The Royal Alcázar of Segovia, the city’s symbol, is a medieval castle with breathtaking views, which served as a royal residence, fortress and prison, situated on a promontory between the rivers Eresma and Clamores.

It is preceded by well-tended gardens featuring the monument erected to the heroes of the War of Independence, Daoiz and Velarde, the work of the Segovian sculptor Aniceto Marinas. To the left is the Casa de la Química, built during the Enlightenment and the research centre of Louis Proust.

On either side of the castle, we are treated to splendid views of the Pinarillo (with the Jewish cemetery) and the Church of La Vera Cruz and Zamarramala.

A deep moat with a drawbridge leads to a fortress in a privileged location, possibly inhabited since Celtic times. The castle, converted into an Alcázar – a royal residence – in the 13th century, acquired its Gothic appearance during the reigns of John II and Henry IV. Its restoration has been ongoing since a serious fire in 1862, which nearly destroyed it completely. However, in 1882, during the reign of Alfonso XII, its reconstruction began, a process never since abandoned by the Patronato del Alcázar, which has been restoring coffered ceilings, friezes, altarpieces and walls.

The monument’s silhouette is dominated by the small tower of Alfonso X the Wise, on the north corner, from which this monarch studied the heavens, and the 80-metre-high tower of John II, with beautiful sgraffito and twelve turrets adorning its structure. In its narrow, cold dungeons, disgraced nobles such as Don Álvaro de Luna and fictional characters such as Don Torcuato from Jovellanos’s ‘El Delincuente Honrado’ (The Honourable Criminal) spent days of suffering.

Via a steep and gruelling spiral staircase, visitors can reach the top of the tower, from where there is a magnificent view of the city, as well as the districts of San Marcos and Zamarramala and the quarry from which some of the stone used in the Cathedral was extracted.

Inside and around the Patio de Armas – a regular venue for chamber music concerts – and the Patio del Reloj lie the various rooms. To the left are the rooms dedicated to the Colegio de Artillería; to the right, the Palacio de los Reyes de Castilla, the main core of the building. Particularly notable for their beauty are the Sala de Ajimeces; the Galera, whose coffered ceiling has recently been reconstructed; the Throne – with a striking Mudejar ceiling, originating from Urones de Castroponce (Valladolid) and the work of Xadel Alcalde, who also created the one that stood in the same room before the fire –; the Chimney; the Cordón; the Piñas; the Cámara Regia;

the Queen’s Dressing Room and the Chapel, where we can see an altarpiece from the Castilian school of the first quarter of the 16th century, originating from Viana de Cega (Valladolid), and another dedicated to St James the Apostle, as well as the Adoration of the Magi, painted in 1600 by Bartolomé Carduccio.

Of all these, the Sala de Reyes stands out, with its extraordinary coffered ceiling of gilded hexagons and diamonds and an original frieze in which 52 polychrome seated figures represent the Kings and Queens of Asturias, León and Castile from Don Pelayo to Juana la Loca.