The Alcázar de Segovia was built in the early twelfth century by Alfonso X the Wise. The fortress was a royal palace, institutional and military building, archive headquarters, artillery college and state prison.
In 1965 Orson Welles filmed here scenes of Chimes at Midnight and more contemporary is the cameo of the Alcazar in an episode of The Simpsons. Walt Disney was inspired by its beaked towers to recreate Cinderella's castle. The most famous of its legends, tells that a child, son of Henry II of Castile, died when falling from the arms of a maid.