Location: Segovia
Phone: (921) 46 07 59
(921) 46 07 59
Transport: bus 2 (from train station)
Hours: Mar-Aug 10am - 9pm Sep-Feb 10am - 8pm
The Alcazar of Segovia, dating from the early 12th century,
is one of the most famous medieval castles in the world and one
of the most visited monuments in Spain. Twenty-two kings have
passed through its rooms, as well as some of the most prominent
figures in history.
Its imposing profile rises
majestically over the Eresma valley and is a symbol of the Old
City of Segovia, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
Palace and fortress of the Kings of Castile, its layout
reflects the splendor of the Court during the Middle Ages, and
its walls have witnessed battles, palace intrigues, royal
weddings and amazing events. In its millennial existence, the
Alcázar has been a Roman fort, medieval fortress, royal palace,
custodian of the royal treasury, state prison, Royal College of
Artillery and General Military Archive.
The fortification
has Roman foundations, probably the remains of an old fort,
although the true history of the Alcázar -which only has its
name in Arabic- begins with the Reconquest, whose evolution
coincides with that of the castle, although with important later
remodeling, such as the roof of slate that Felipe II ordered to
be made and that makes the Alcazar of Segovia the "most
European" castle on the peninsula, being one of the most notable
examples of a military fortress and a unique case in the history
of Spanish and European architecture, castle and royal palace,
which its nickname indicates: "alcáçar", with which it was
already known in 1135, when Alfonso VII reigned as emperor.
Orson Welles used it in Chimes at Midnight, and it is also
widely believed that its slender and elegant outline was one of
the inspirations used by Walt Disney for his Cinderella castle,
which in turn became the famous icon of the Disney company
movies.
Artillery Colonel Eduardo de Oliver-Copóns wrote
in 1916 that the Alcázar is "the perfect model of the fantastic
castles described in their travel romances by the ingenious
wandering troubadours who crossed all the regions in search of
the worthy lady, for their perfections, to occupy his thoughts
and make his heart fall in love, for at the foot of the walled
enclosure where he was locked up, to sing his trovas and play
his zithers».
Segovia between the 5th century B.C. C. and and the 11th century AD.
c.
The oldest remains found in the place are granite ashlars similar
to those of the Roman aqueduct, which suggests that in times of Roman
domination of the city there must already have been a castro or
fortification. On the remains of this, the fortress was erected as a
fortress.
The Alcázar during the first centuries of the Middle
Ages (1088-1369)
The first documentary news that is preserved of the
building dates from the year 1122, shortly after Alfonso VI of León
reconquered the city, although it was not until 1155 when it was
mentioned under the name of Alcázar, in a letter kept in the cathedral
archives. .
It was the residence of King Alfonso VIII. In 1258,
during the reign of Alfonso X, the palace collapsed when the king was
inside. This oldest nucleus corresponds to the weapons room. It was
numerous times restored and enlarged, possibly from Alfonso X to Felipe
II. Its current appearance is due to the latter, its "silhouette" makes
it unique among Spanish castles.
Royal Palace of the Trastámara
(1369-1516)
In the Middle Ages, due to its safety as well as its
proximity to hunting areas, the Alcázar became one of the favorite
residences of the Kings of Castile, especially Alfonso X. It was
inhabited many times and became one of the most sumptuous palace-castles
in the 15th century, being a silent witness to key events in the history
of Spain such as the proclamation of Isabel la Católica (December 13,
1474) or the vigil mass between Felipe II and Ana de Austria (December
14, 1474). November 1570) in his chapel.
King Alfonso X “el
Sabio” summoned Cortes in 1256, the first to take place in the Alcázar.
The remodeling, expansion and decoration of the Alcázar, which began
with Catherine of Lancaster in 1412 and which would reach its peak
during the reign of Enrique IV, made it a building admired by all the
travelers who came to it.
The Alcázar had gone from its strict
military function to being a large institutional building where the
royal treasury, the kingdom's archives and the royal armory were kept.
This change will take shape in the decoration of various rooms. As far
as the archive is concerned, it was Juan II and Enrique IV who, in
truth, systematically began the task of safeguarding historical
documentation. It is recorded that, in 1437, Juan II ordered various
records to be transferred to the Alcázar "to my archive of the city of
Segovia", which implies the existence of one of the first royal archives
of Castile.
It was during the reigns of Juan II (1406-1454) and
his son Enrique IV (1454-1474) that the Alcázar reached its peak, both
for the role it played in the complex political game of those turbulent
years and for the active life culture that took place there and its
splendid decoration.
The Alcázar and the first monarchs of the
House of Austria (1516-1621)
The House of Austria (1516-1621) hardly
used the building. However, it will still have a relevant role in two
moments: the War of the Communities (1520-21) and the wedding of Felipe
II with Ana of Austria (1570).
The Alcázar in the 17th, 18th and
19th centuries (1621-1862)
state prison
Since the Middle Ages, the
Alcázar had occasionally served as a prison for famous people, but from
the first decades of the 17th century the fortress permanently assumed
the function of a state prison, just like the Bastille, in France, or
the Tower of London. , In England.
Disgraced noblemen such as Don
Álvaro de Luna and other imaginaries such as Don Torcuato from
Jovellanos's "El Delincuente Honrado" spent painful days in its narrow
and cold prisons, a function that he performed until the 20th century,
when the Republican government imprisoned the man there. General
Berenguer, in 1931, due to his intervention, being president of the
Council of Ministers, during the last months of the Monarchy, against
the unsuccessful pronouncement of Jaca.
During the reigns of
Felipe IV and Carlos II, the last monarchs of the House of Austria, many
politically important figures passed through their cells. The most
significant was undoubtedly Francisco de Guzmán y Zúñiga, Marquis of
Ayamonte, arrested in 1644 for participating in the conspiracy of the
Duke of Medina Sidonia, who was executed in Segovia four years later.
Another notable prisoner was the French nobleman Henry of Lorraine, Duke
of Guise, who was imprisoned in 1648 after his participation in the
Sicilian insurrection and was released from him five years later.
Among the most picturesque prisoners who passed through the Alcázar
is the Italian Vincenzo Lupati, locked up in 1636 for having defrauded
the crown by offering to turn any metal into gold and who was finally
executed. Mention may also be made of Maria Mancini, niece of Cardinal
Mazzarino and wife of Italian nobleman Lorenzo Colonna, who in 1680
spent several months in the fortress after abandoning her husband and
refusing to return to him.
Another important prisoner was the
Baron de Montigny, brother of the Count of Horn, arrested and imprisoned
in the Alcázar in September 1567 for his participation in a conspiracy
in Madrid. Although there were several attempts to free him, he was
eventually transferred to the castle of Simancas and executed in October
1568. Other famous prisoners at the Alcázar include the Counts of
Triviño and Miranda, as well as Prince Don Carlos.
Royal College
of Artillery (1764-1862)
In 1762 Carlos III founded the Royal College
of Artillery in Segovia, whose first director was Count Félix Gazzola.
The College was installed on May 16, 1764 and remained in the Alcázar,
with slight parentheses. This educational center soon became a
benchmark, and the best and most perfect exponent of enlightened
military education.
In February 1792, as one more office of the
artillery teaching center, a large chemistry laboratory was inaugurated
in a building very close to the Alcázar (Casa de la Química). The most
highly paid scientist of the Spanish Enlightenment, the chemist Louis
Proust, joined the laboratory at the head of the laboratory. in its
genre.
The objective of setting up this laboratory was to
complete the curriculum of the Cadets with a cabinet in which the study
of natural history and chemistry, especially metallurgy, would be
facilitated. In this laboratory the French chemist carried out his
research, closing the formulation of the Law of Definite Proportions.
In modern times (1862-present)
The fire of 1862
In 1862, a
fire destroyed the sumptuous roofs of the noble rooms, which could be
faithfully reconstructed later, thanks to the existence of engravings
made by José María Avrial y Flores in 1839.
In 1898, the General
Military Archive was installed on the first floor of the building, which
is still in the Alcázar today.
In 1931 it was declared a historic
artistic monument.
The Alcázar was also used as a prison during
the Republic, when the republican government imprisoned General
Berenguer there in 1931 because of his intervention during the last
months of the Monarchy of Alfonso XIII
Creation of the Board of
the Alcázar
By Decree of January 18, 1951, the Board of Trustees of
the Alcázar de Segovia was created with the mission of regulating the
use of the building and its annexes for the benefit of the cultural
heritage; ensure the conservation, entertainment and artistic protection
of the monument; and encourage the public to enjoy a "Museum of the
Alcázar de Segovia" that is an archive of memories to preserve the
memory of its triple aspect of Alcázar Regio, Military Enclosure and
Royal College of Artillery.
Last official act as monarch of Juan
Carlos I
The commemorative act of the 250th of the Royal College of
Artillery, held in the Alcazar of Segovia on May 16, 2014, was presided
over by King Juan Carlos I, being the last official act he attended,
before announcing the abdication of he.
Currently
Currently,
the Alcazar of Segovia is one of the monuments in Europe that arouses
the most interest. Its management is a unique example in terms of
dissemination and conservation of historical and artistic heritage, with
the advantage that visits generate sufficient income to guarantee the
maintenance, security and safeguarding of an impressive historical
legacy.
The distribution of the castle is divided into two areas: the
exterior, with a Herrerian patio, moat, drawbridge and keep, and the
interior rooms that include a chapel and several noble rooms (the
Throne room, the Galera room, the las Piñas, de los Reyes and
others) that can be visited today.
Its plant is very
irregular and adapts to the hill on which it stands. The very
beautiful keep stands out, square with five towers, a room covered
with a pointed cannon and mullioned windows. It was built when King
Juan II was in power and at first it served as a weapons room.
Inside, the halls and rooms were decorated with great luxury and
beauty by painters and Mudejar artists.
The Tower of Juan II was built between 1440 and 1465 and is
considered a great example of Spanish Gothic-civil architecture.
This tower was used as a state prison, like the Bastille or the Tower of
London, and was a symbol of the absolute power of the Hispanic monarchy,
with a singular list of illustrious prisoners, who were confined in the
most protected and secure enclosure in strength.
It sits on top
of a previous tower from the 13th century, of which a Mudejar window of
Almohad influence has been preserved. Its impressive 80 meters high are
divided into three floors thanks to three lines of imposts.
It is
decorated on the outside with circular sgraffito motifs and topped with
battlements, some of them decorated with the shields of Castile.
The top can be accessed after climbing 152 steps via a spiral staircase.
The spectacular 360º views of the city and its natural environment that
can be enjoyed from above make the effort worthwhile: A beautiful view
of the old city of Segovia, the Fuencisla Sanctuary, built next to some
rocks in the lower part of the city; the Jewish cemetery, preserved next
to the old Jewish quarter; the Church of La Vera Cruz, an old Templar
church with an unusual dodecagonal plan; the Monastery of El Parral and
the neighborhoods of San Marcos and Zamarramala.
Serving as a plinth for the Alcázar façade, a walled terrace extends
along the entire front: it is the Gallery or Terrace of Moors, so called
because Enrique IV's Moorish guard stood sentinel over it.
Until
the fire of 1862, it was covered by a wide slate roof -as it appears in
engravings from the Romantic period- which, if it added grace to the
whole, made the great tower less slender.
The moat and the
entrance to the castle
To access the castle, it is necessary to cross
a defensive moat 26 meters deep. This moat, which was always dry, used
to be crossed by a drawbridge, but now it is crossed by a stone bridge
built during the reign of Philip II and an iron footbridge.
The
moat is of natural origin and was dug over the centuries, using the
stones extracted for the construction of the castle. At the bottom of
the pit, at a depth of 23 meters, you can still see some half-cut
ashlars that were never used.
The gully of the moat, which must
have originated from a natural cut in the rock, was enlarged by Enrique
IV and then again during the remodeling works on the castle promoted by
Felipe II. In the times of Enrique IV, it was used to keep bears and was
used to extract stone for the construction of the castle's defenses.
To the left of the ditch, at the southern end of the gully, you can
see a part of it with the morphology it must have had in the time of
Enrique IV and that was not enlarged during the reform of Felipe II.
Ajimeces Hall or the Old Palace
This was the main room of the old
Alcázar: a large rectangular space that constituted the main room of the
so-called Palacio Mayor of the old residence of the Burgundian dynasty,
scene of the festive celebrations of the court.
It is one of the
oldest in the Alcázar, dating back to the twelfth century with King
Alfonso VIII. This room is, therefore, one of those that correspond to
the primitive Alcázar.
It has its entrance from the parade ground
and owes its name to the four double windows or mullioned windows that,
before the reforms carried out by Enrique IV, fell outside the Eresma in
the time of King Alfonso VIII. In architecture, the window that is made
up of two identical arches linked by a small column or pillar called a
mullion is known as a mullioned window or mullion. These windows then
opened onto a terrace that, later covered, became the Galley Room. The
windows that can be found here are also known as festejadores because in
them the fiancées sat to talk.
The windows have curious Mudejar
paintings on their plinths that represent large birds, similar to
ostriches and some remains of Mudejar paintings in red on a white
background, known as lacerías. These paintings bear witness to the
original organization of the room and the taste of the Castilian
monarchs for Islamic ornamentation.
Currently, it also houses an
impressive composition of horses and knights, caparisoned and armed for
tournaments with magnificent steel armor, as well as other varied armor
of different types and distributed by room, all of them donated by the
Lázaro Galdiano Foundation.
The Mudejar-style plinths located
between the windows, known as lacerías, are one of the most outstanding
manifestations of the Islamic tradition in painting in Segovia. They are
part of the original decoration of the Old Palace and remains of
paintings found in a reform carried out in the Casa de Argila, a
13th-century house in the nearby Canonjías neighborhood.
These
paintings are characterized by the fresco technique and by the use of a
reddish tone as a base, obtained from an iron oxide known as red ocher.
The lacerations were made between the 12th and 14th centuries and
were known in late-medieval documentation as "Moorish painting" or
"ribbon painting". Its origin dates back to the Cordovan caliphate and
they continued to be used in a less prominent way in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
It corresponds to the ordination of the fortress in the time of Felipe II. The furniture is from the 16th century. On the walls you can see a portrait of Felipe II and another of Felipe III, a 16th century Flemish tapestry with the theme of the betrothal of Our Lady and a curious representation where you can see the appearance of the fortress prior to the reform of the roofs and where you can also see the old cathedral of Santa María that was located in the current plazuela del alcázar.
The doorway that communicates with the Fireplace Room preserves its
original Mudejar decoration intact. The room is covered by an octagonal
frame, similar to the one destroyed by the fire, which was carved in
1456. Below is a wide plaster frieze that maintains its original
decoration despite the ravages of the fire.
The thrones under a
canopy with the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs and their motto
"Tanto mounta" are the work of the beginning of the century. On the
walls are portraits of the kings themselves, which are part of the
iconography of kings commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II. The portrait of
Queen Isabel is signed by Madrazo and that of Don Fernando by Montañés.
The stained glass window in the window represents Enrique IV of
Castile and is the work of the Segovian artist Carlos Muñoz de Pablos,
also the author of the stained glass windows that can be seen in the
other rooms.
Hall of the Galley or Hall of Ambassadors
It gets
its name from the old coffered ceiling that was in the shape of an
inverted ship's hull.
The room was built by Queen Catherine of
Lancaster in 1412, during the minority of her son Juan II of Castile.
The frieze is Mudejar plasterwork with a double inscription: the upper
one with a Eucharistic prayer and the lower one with data on the
execution of the room.
Originally, it was called the Ambassadors'
Room and was the place where guests waited for an audience with royalty.
According to the chronicles and travelers, it was the most beautiful
room in the Alcázar and was covered by "the most splendid armor of the
palace", made of gilt and polychrome wood, very similar to that of the
main chapel of the convent church of Santa Clara de Tordesillas.
After the roof disappeared, during the fire of March 6, 1862, the Board
of Trustees of the Alcázar carried out its reconstruction in the year
2000, based on the drawings made by Avrial twenty-five years before its
disappearance. The five-panel armor, combed with moamare files and made
of cedar wood, was built by the Valladolid carpenter Juan Givaja with
the help of a large group of artisans, according to a project by the
architect Merino de Cáceres.
It rests on an arrocabe of muqarnas
and ribbons, and the gilding of the set required a total of four kilos
of gold, applied in very fine loaves, within a patient and meticulous
labor of artisans and specialists, over several months. The lower frieze
is the only original part of the set, surviving from the fire.
On
the south wall you can see the conformation of the north façade of the
Old Palace, now the Sala de Ajimeces, before the gallery bay was
attached to it.
In the windows there are two stained glass
windows by Muñoz de Pablos that represent Enrique II el de las Mercedes,
founder of the Trastámara dynasty, a bastard branch of the house of
Burgundy, and Enrique III el Doliente, grandson of the former. In
addition, there is the murder of Pedro the Cruel by his half-brother
Enrique II and the death of Enrique II's son as a result of a fall from
a horse. These stained glass windows are based on miniatures made by
Hernando de Ávila in the 16th century, the originals of which are
preserved in the Monastery of El Escorial.
One of the walls is decorated with a painting, the work of the
aforementioned Muñoz de Pablos. which represents the proclamation of
Queen Isabel the Catholic as Queen of Castilla and León in the atrium of
the old church of San Miguel de Segovia, a key moment in the history of
Spain. The mural shows Isabel la Católica standing, surrounded by
important figures of the time. The white color of Isabel's dress
accentuates her prominence in the work.
The Spanish artist paid
special attention to the representation of the characters and the
integration of the mural in the environment of the gallery room of the
Alcázar in Segovia. In addition, Muñoz de Pablos included portraits of
some of the descendants of the knights who participated in the
proclamation of Isabella, which gives the work a personal and unique
touch. He also emphasizes the involvement of the nobility and the powers
that be in Elizabeth's proclamation as queen. In this way, Muñoz de
Pablos included in the mural characters such as Juan de Contreras and
López de Ayala (Marquis of Lozoya), the chronicler Mariano Grau, the
soldier Francisco Sintes Obrador and the soldier Enrique de Ocerín y
García. He also included the artist's assistant, Vicente Llorente, and
the artist's brother, Ángel Muñoz de Pablos. In addition to friends and
acquaintances, Muñoz de Pablos portrayed his wife, Eulalia Ruiz, and her
daughter Carla, who appear leaning out of a gallery on the far right of
the mural.
Muñoz de Pablos invites you to pay attention to some
details, such as a banner of the nobility, an object that was present at
the proclamation and is now kept in the church of San Martín; the relief
of the figure of San Miguel that appears on the façade of this church;
the cross that reflects the consecration of this temple or a dove that
appears perched on a small window.
Hall of Pineapples
Its name
is due to the decoration motifs on the coffered ceiling. In the frieze
angels can be seen carrying the coat of arms of Castilla y León. The
stained glass window represents Alfonso VII with his daughter
Berenguela.
royal chamber
On its walls you can see scenes from
the family life of the Catholic Monarchs. The bed has a gold woven
brocade cover.
room of the kings
Felipe II commissioned
Hernando de Ávila to design the statues corresponding to the kings of
Asturias, León and Castilla. One of the paintings in the room is a
portrait of Felipe II himself and the other two are portraits of two of
his wives, Elizabeth of Valois and Anne of Austria.
Cord room
Its name comes from the fact that it is surrounded by walls, with a long
golden cord. It represents the Franciscan cord for penance of Alfonso X
for his excessive pride.
There is a chapel in the cordon room from which the King or Queen
heard the mass.
Weapons Room or Royal Armory
The fortress
housed the armory of the House of Trastámara from its inception and was
the precedent for the collections of weapons that were finally brought
together in the Royal Armory of Madrid.10
The Armory is a room
that reflects the military style of the Alcázar and has a pointed barrel
vault and two mullioned windows.
It is located on the ground
floor of the Tower of Homage and currently houses a large number of
pieces of armor, swords, spears, halberds, mortars, culverins and
bombards, as well as old heraldic flags.
Also in the room is a
crossbow known as the Charles V crossbow, which is believed to have
belonged to the emperor and stands out for its ornamental richness and
its resemblance to the one seen in a painting by Lucas Cranach.
A small door in the Alcázar's Weapons Room, with a delicate
Romanesque grille, from the Segovian fortress palace known as the Tower
of Hercules, gives access to the old treasure chamber where, until the
time of the Catholic Monarchs, the funds of the Kingdom of Castile and
the title deeds of the kingdom, known as "Treasure of the Alcázares of
Segovia".
The Alcázar was, in addition to the Royal Palace of
Castilla, guardian of the fabulous treasures of the Trastámara. The
treasurer of the fortress was in charge of its custody, which together
with the warden, were undoubtedly the oldest trades of all those that
have existed in Segovia, with their origin in the years 1088.
The
chronicles say that the last money that came from here went to pay for
Columbus' trip to the Indies and when the Catholic Queen died, most of
the royal treasury had been lost.
Today the treasure chamber only
houses some old chests with sophisticated security locks, as testimony
of what it was like in ancient times.
Museum of the Royal College
of Artillery
It is located on one of the sides of the Patio de Armas,
extending through the southern area. It serves as a sample of the years
in which the Alcázar served as an Artillery College. It exhibits
documents, models, weapons, and uniforms from the 18th and 19th
centuries.
It also houses the General Military Archive of Segovia, the oldest historical archive of the Spanish Armed Forces.
The Alcázar was the inspiration for some of the most iconic Walt
Disney movies. The similarities between Segovia and Cinderella can be
found in the brick facade of the buildings, the towers, and the
location. It also served to build the Queen's castle in Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs.
The Kings and Throne rooms of the Alcazar of
Segovia were the spaces used for the filming of the film by John Glenn
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery. The scenes represent the meeting
that the Catholic Monarchs had with Columbus in the medieval Segovian
fortress before the discoverer undertook a trip to America and included
among other actors Marlon Brando, Tom Selleck and Raquel Ward.
Mister
Arkadin (Mr. Arkadin) (1955) by Orson Welles had as one of its settings
the Alcázar de Segovia, the protagonist's castle.
The Princess of
Eboli (original title That Lady) is a 1955 film directed by Terence
Young and starring Olivia de Havilland. In said film, the Alcázar is
used as a representation of the Palace of the Duke of Pastrana in
Guadalajara.
The Alcazar of Segovia served as the setting for Sir
Lancelot du Lac's French home, Joyous Gard, in the 1967 film-musical
Camelot.
Some scenes from inside the palace have appeared in Spanish
television series such as Isabel and Águila Roja.
The new series 'The
Wheel of Time', an Amazon Prime blockbuster, came to the fortress in
December 2020 to perform some of its scenes. Among the spaces where the
filming took place, a short shot was recorded at the gates of the
Alcázar, but most of the scenes were taken inside the palace-fortress,
specifically in the Terraza del Pozo and the Terraza de Moros.
In the
famous Castlevania saga we also have a representation of the Alcazar of
Segovia. It was the castle chosen to adorn the manuals for Akumajou
Dracula X68000 and the Sega Saturn version of SoTN: Nocturne in the
Moonlight. In addition, he was chosen as the poster for the canceled
film in real image.
It appears represented as the castle of Koka in
the acclaimed manga Berserk, being the first fortress drawn in the work.
It is one of the wallpapers of the Super Pang video game.
The Alcazar
appears in episode 20 of season 20 of The Simpsons entitled 'Four great
women and a manicure'.