THE HISTORY

This ancient manor house was originally the home of a local noble family, the González de Prelo y Castrillón, whence the hotel takes its name and whose coat-of-arms appears over the main entrance, with the earliest parts of the building dating back to the fifteenth century. In the centre, a tower rises three storeys high and is peaked by a remarkable six-sided pinnacled roof. Bordering the top of the tower is a curious burgundy-coloured frieze.
The manor house itself is on two floors and was completed in the eighteenth century and the ground floor nowadays occupies what used to be the former stables. The library, dining room and kitchen are all situated on the ground floor.
From a connecting gallery, visitors can pass through from the tower to the Chapel which dates back to 1776. The Chapel features two magnificent barroque altarpieces and a number of fine polychrome wooden figures belonging to the 17th and 18th centuries, including an intriguing black figure of Saint Benedict of Palermo, the patron saint of slaves who is still much venerated around Southern Spain and Latin America.

The Legend of the Lord of the Manor

According to local legend, one day the Lord of the Manor went off on a hunting expedition. Before he went, however, he gave strict orders that on no account was mass to be said until he returned. The hours passed and still he didn't return so the parish priest, who by now was getting very impatient, decided to begin the mass. Just as he was pronouncing the blessing, the Lord of Prelo burst into the church and, on seeing that his orders had been disobeyed, shot the priest dead on the altar steps. In punishment for such a dastardly deed, the local parish was removed from Prelo to the neighbouring Boal and the lord of Prelo was further punished when it ceased to be the capital of the borough.