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Map to discover the highlights of Betanzos: heritage, town centre churches, parish churches, historic centre and accommodation.
Archive–Liceo Building
In the Plaza de Galicia in Betanzos there is an imposing 18th-century building (1764) that was intended to house the archives of Galicia and its kingdom. Today, this two-storey building is one of the city’s representative landmarks and serves institutional functions, housing the Liceo of Betanzos. The building where the Liceo is currently located was created to accommodate the Archive of the Kingdom of Galicia at a time when Galicia was divided into seven provinces in the 18th century, although it was never actually used for this purpose, as the archive was ultimately located in A Coruña after changes in the regional administrative division. The construction, measuring 50 metres in length and 25 metres in width, features a double interior staircase and another double staircase on the exterior. At the central upper part of the façade it displays a coat of arms of Galicia. At the rear, it has a tree-lined promenade. The building is neoclassical in style and originally contained seven large vaulted halls, one for each of the seven provinces that made up Galicia at the time of its construction. The original structure is not complete, as in the mid-20th century one wing of the building collapsed, along with part of the original wall. These elements were later rebuilt, but without the interior vaults mentioned above. In fact, the interior staircases are almost the only elements of the 18th-century building that remain standing inside. The building is known as the Liceo because in the mid-19th century it was used as the headquarters of the recreational Liceo of the artisans of Betanzos. This was not its only use, as this imposing building served numerous purposes over time (ballroom, tavern, theatre, school, headquarters of societies, barracks, circus…), before becoming largely a space for the Municipal Government, housing offices and administrative departments.