The house
In the historic centre of Vilanova, where Luces de Bohemia and Priorat streets cross, you will find the imposing Casa do Cuadrante
This ancestral residence dates from the 16th century, although it has undergone several renovations. One of the last was carried out in the mid-19th century, converting it into a pazo-style building or traditional “town mansion” for an upper-class family. Although the Casa do Cuadrante is the product of the annexation of elements that were added over many years, it all corresponds to a typology that is specific to the area of which it forms part.
The Casa do Cuadrante
It originally belonged to the Benedictine Priory of Vilanova de Arousa and, after its properties were divided up, it was acquired by Francisco de la Peña Cardecid and Josefa Montenegro y Saco Bolaño, the writer’s maternal grandparents. When the Valle Peña family no longer lived in the town, the writer stayed in the Cuadrante whenever he returned to Vilanova de Arousa. At that time, some cousins lived there, and they kept a room for him.
The property was inhabited until the 1990s, when it was practically abandoned. In 1994, the building was damaged by a terrible fire, with almost everything inside being lost. The following year, Vilanova de Arousa Town Council, due to its interest in keeping its memory alive, acquired the property to rehabilitate it and turn it into the Valle-Inclán House-Museum.
Declaration of National Historic Monument
The Casa do Cuadrante was declared a national historic site in 1976 by Decree 249/1976 of January 9. The document states that it was there that Don Ramón José Simón del Valle Peña, later known as Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, was born on October 28, 1866.
José Caamaño Bournacell, in Por las rutas turísticas de Valle-Inclán. Guía para conocer y caminar (Madrid, 1971), indicates that Valle-Inclán “was born in the main bedroom in the so-called Casa del Cuadrante, on Priorato Street where, a few days later, he was taken in the arms of his mother, Doña Dolores Peña y Saco Bolaño to the “Cantillo” house, in the Plaza de San Mauro.” The house’s importance is also evident in the writer’s work, forming part of the configuration of Valle-Inclán aesthetics.
