This building is listed in the National Assets of Cultural Interest. 

You enter the Alcazar by walking through well-tended gardens. Here, there is a monument to Daoiz and Velarde, heroes of the War of Independence. This monument was designed by the Segovian sculptor Aniceto Marinas. To the left as you walk in, is the House of Chemistry, built during the Age of Enlightenment and the research centre of Louis Proust. 

You can see splendid views of the Pinarillo forest, along with the Jewish cemetery (to the left), and of the Church of Vera Cruz and Zamarramala (to the right) from the Alcazar. 

A deep moat with a drawbridge leads to a fortress built in a strategically important location. The original site was possibly inhabited by the Celts. The castle, converted into an Alcázar - royal residence - in the 13th century, acquired its Gothic appearance in the times of John II and Henry IV. Following a serious fire in 1862 which almost totally destroyed the building, it has been extensively restored. This began in 1882 during the reign of Alfonso XII and since then by the Alcázar Trust (Patronato del Alcázar) which has been responsible for restoring coffered ceilings, friezes, altarpieces and walls. 

The silhouette of the monument includes the small tower of Alfonso X the Wise, in the northern corner, from which this monarch studied the night sky.  You can also see the tower of John II, 80 m. high, with beautiful sgraffito work and twelve turrets ornamenting the structure. In its narrow and cold prisons, noblemen who had fallen into disgrace, such as Don Álvaro de Luna, spent some wretched days there. You can read what this might have been like in “El Delincuente Honrado” (The Honourable Delinquent) by Jovellanos, as he had one of his main characters, Don Torcuato, spending time in this prison. 

By walking up a steep, spiral staircase, the visitor can reach the top of the tower, from which there is a beautiful view of the city, as well as of the neighbourhoods of San Marcos and Zamarramala. You can also see the quarry from which part of the stone used for the Cathedral was excavated. 

Rooms in the Alcazar are located around the Patio de Armas (Arms Courtyard), today a regular venue for chamber music concerts, and the Patio del Reloj (Clock Courtyard). To the left are the rooms dedicated to the Artillery College; to the right, the Palace of the Kings of Castile, the main part of the building. Amongst its most impressive rooms are the Sala de Ajimeces (the mullioned windows room) and the Sala de la Galera (the Galley room), whose coffered ceiling has recently been rebuilt. The Throne Chamber - with a striking Mudejar (Hispano-Muslim style of masonry) ceiling from Urones de Castroponce (Valladolid) is the work of Xadel Alcalde, who designed the one that existed in the same room before the fire. Other rooms that you must visit are the Sala de la Chimenea (The Fireplace room), the Sala del Cordón (The Cord room); the Sala de las Piñas (the Pine cone room), the Cámara Regia (the Royal Chamber) and the Queen's Dressing Room. You will also see the Chapel where there is an altarpiece from the Castilian school c. 1625. This has come from Viana de Cega (Valladolid). Also to be found in the chapel is an altar dedicated to St. James the Apostle, as well as the magnificent painting, the Adoration of the Kings, completed in 1600 by Bartolomé Carduccio. 

Probably the most impressive of all is the Sala de Reyes (Hall of Monarchs) which has an extraordinary coffered ceiling of gilded hexagons and lozenges and an original frieze in which 52 polychrome and seated images represent the Kings and Queens of Asturias, León and Castile from Don Pelayo to Joanna the Mad. 

Would you like to visit it? 

Check opening times and prices here.