The Sociedad Casino of Murcia was built in a little palace of the old Lucas street on 11 June 1847. It developed a long project of purchase of real estate and decoration until coming out to the Trapería street, where today it has its facade and its main entrance, finished in 1901.
MAIN FACADE It is an eclectic style work of the architect Mr. Pedro Cerdán Martínez. It has decorative features of classical and modernist artistic trends.
LOBBY It is a remarkable piece which combines cabinetmaking, marble and plaster in a brilliant way. The door, which has the shape of a horseshoe and is walnut-made, gives access to the Moorish Patio and has an elegant and fine execution.
MOORISH PATIO It is a work of the Madrid artist Manuel Castaño and his team. It is a patio carried out in two heights and is crowned by the huge iron and glass dome at the top of the Casino. A beautiful work inspired by the both royal saloons of the Moorish palace of La Alhambra in Granada, and the Moorish palace-fortress of El Alcázar in Seville. The Arabic text that is repeated constantly means: ¿Is nobody greater than God?¿
LIBRARY A decorative project carried out in 1916 by the English company Waking Gilow. It has a quadrangular base of zenithal lighting with two levels. It also has 25 lit reading places with individual seats. It houses 20150 catalogued books.
GALLERY A very curious detail of the Casino is its enormous central and transverse gallery, which is in fact a closed passage or a private street. Furthermore, it constitutes a meeting point and gathering place, as well as a distributor point to the different rooms of the place. It resembles the great rotunda saloon of the Palace hotel in Madrid.
CONGRESILLO It is an elegant small lounge, which is placed in front of the Library, and welcomed some selected groups of Murcia. Today, it is used to celebrate different social and cultural events.
POMPEIAN PATIO It is a great artistic effect work with 14 monolithic shaft columns, which come from Macael quarries, and they are crowned by a beautiful Ionaian capital. There is a sculpture by José Planes in the middle of the Patio.
BILLIARD ROOM A splendid wooden coffered ceiling with a decoration in which geometric motifs predominate: four semicircular arches which illuminate an inner courtyard and lovely lamps that project light to billiard tables equipped with heating under them. It has been the scenario of important billiard championships.
LADIES¿ DRESSING ROOM It takes up a part of the ancient weapons room. It has a very luxury design with an artistic feeling. The canvas that decorates the roof is from José Marín Baldo, who finished it in 1922. The roof canvas means an allegory of the night which represents Goddess Selene. The eyes and figure of a winged woman, who falls in flames, pursues those of people looking at her from any angle of the place.
BALLROOM ANTECHAMBER It can be accessed from the Pompeian Patio where replicas of the Policleto sculptures of the Vatican museum which represent Danaide and Amazona are found.
BALLROOM It was built between 1870 and 1875. It is considered a Neo-baroque attraction, but stylistically it falls in line of the eclectic French-inspired architecture. The roof canvas represents a fake architecture with a foreshortened rococo mixtilinear balustrade. The balustrade has four small balconies with awnings and floral vases. Between the clouds, there are four matrons who represent Music, Sculpture, Painting and Architecture. Four medallions show the distinguished sons of Murcia: the actor Julián Romea, the sculptor Francisco Salzillo y Alcaraz, the artist Nicolás de Villacis y Arias, and the Count Floridablanca.In the middle of the room, there are five dazzling lamps, one of them with 110 bulbs and 620 glass pieces with eight different kinds of figures.
When that visit was over, we went to see the cathedral fo Murcia but not befor stopping to have lunch in the plaza.
About 17:30 we drove back home where Karen and Joes prepared dinner.
