Casa del Conde

In the village of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, barely 15 kilometres from Trujillo, you will find the Casa del Conde, a 16th-century stately mansion .

Its historical importance resides in its having been the home of a family that was closely linked to the colonisation of America, in regions of Panama, Peru and Chile, among others.

When Don Pedro Alonso de Hinojosa, a general of Gonzalo Pizarro, the governor and captain of the province of Charcas and a great defender of the rights of the Indians, was murdered on 5th May 1553 in the stables of his house in La Plata, his capital was sent to Spain and with it, his brother Don Juan de Hinojosa constructed his new house, which came to be known as the Casa del Conde when Philip IV bestowed the title of count on his eldest son Chaves-Mendoza e Hinojosa.

Now, this mansion of the nobility with its stately Renaissance architecture has been restored and turned into a rural tourism establishment.