Iron Palace of Orizaba
Introduction
The Iron Palace of Orizaba is a building built to be the headquarters of the municipal government of the city of Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico at the end of the century, it is located on Madero Street between Poniente 2 and 4. The building is the greatest exponent of Art Nouveau in Mexico and is listed as the only metal Art Nouveau palace in the world.
History
During the Porfirian Era, Orizaba was the fifth most important city in Mexico and the richest and most industrial in the State of Veracruz.[1] Considered during the Porfiriato as the most cultured and educated city in the country, reasons why a large part of its inhabitants, mainly in the last two decades of the 1800s, had emigrated to the entity to try fame and fortune from different parts of the world, French, Swedish, Irish, English, Spanish, Italian, American, Germans, etc.; This immigrant flow brought with it a taste for international culture and the latest European trends to the city.
On September 26, 1891, with the support of the citizens, the State and Federal Government, the Municipality of Orizaba, under the presidency of Mr. Julio M. Vélez, made the necessary arrangements through the plenipotentiary minister of Mexico Abroad, the Orizabeño Don Sebastián Antonio Duque de Mier y Celis, who resided in Paris together with his wife the Duchess Isabel Pesado de la Llave, to commission The Société Anonyme des Forges d'Aiseau, from Belgium, build a unique and exceptional building that would represent the modernity and economic strength of Orizaba, a palace that would present its internationalization to the world.
The Belgian construction company called the most prestigious and renowned architect in Europe, the one who, with his very personal vision of modernity and construction techniques, could carry out the design of such a prestigious contract. This was the Belgian Joseph Danly. He conceived a Palace with a metal structure, completely dismantled. Its cost was 71,000 silver pesos, which was largely paid thanks to the donation that the Orizabeño philanthropist, Don Manuel Carrillo Tablas, made to finance the work. The rest was paid by the Municipality and the State Government.
The entire cargo was 3,369 packages plus the metal structure and was transported in three steamships, the Paris with 880 packages, the Vala with two brick cars and the Havhre with 2,489 packages from the Port of Antwerp, Belgium to the port of Veracruz in three trips.