The Alcazar of Segovia in seven curiosities that will surprise you

Highlights: 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.

Before writing Una muchacha en el Alcázar (The Sphere of Books), my relationship with Segovia and the Alcázar was reduced to little more than a couple of tourist walks through the...

Madrid The icon of Gran Vía is renewed 90 years later: goodbye (and hello) to the mythical poster of the Capitol building
Caribbean Rosario Islands: From Colombian Ibiza to Pablo Escobar's 300-Room Mansion

Before writing A Girl in the Alcazar (La Esfera de los Libros), my relationship with Segovia and the Alcázar was reduced to little more than a couple of tourist walks around the city. On one of these visits, I stayed longer than usual admiring the old cadet uniforms and left with a beginning of history in my head. Then I collected books, maps and all kinds of documents, but I needed more and I managed to open, for once, the attics and some basements of the Alcázar, areas that are not part of the tourist route, but that I needed to know. I wrote the book far from Segovia, but while I was writing it I spent several hours daily in the Alcázar and its surroundings. Today I would like to show you as I saw it.

FUNCTION AS A WATCHTOWER

A ship's bow stranded on the edge of a rocky rock, there is not enough poetry to describe the spectacular geographical situation of the fortress, raised between the valleys of the Eresma and the Clamores. Highly recommended for lovers of heights, climb the Tower of Juan II or dare, from the drawbridge, to look towards the moat, 26 meters below.

THE REAL STORY

Probably part of the fortress already existed in Roman times, but the first mentions date from the early twelfth century. Alfonso X the Wise summoned Cortes here in 1256 and from here Isabella of Castile left to be proclaimed queen in 1474. 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 and rushing from a window, the maid before the possible punishment, threw herself after the child.

THE CADETS OF LEGEND

The Royal College of Artillery is possibly the oldest active officer training center in the world, it was founded in the Alcázar in 1764 where it remained until the fire of 1862. The curriculum was already very ambitious when in 1792 a large chemistry laboratory was inaugurated that would go down in history for being the place where the famous Louis Proust, enunciated the Law of Defined Proportions. It is impossible to approach the House of Chemistry and not imagine the College boiling, with the legendary cadets sinking their heads into the books.

Interior of the Segovian monument. SHUTTERSTOCK

FILMING OF 'CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT'

The fortress was a royal palace, institutional and military building, archive headquarters, artillery college and state prison and also had its golden minute on the screen. 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 and if you are looking for that, see the Alcazar as a fairytale castle and be breathless, you have to give it distance and admire it from the Pradera de San Marcos or the viewpoint of the valleys.

THE RELATIONSHIP WITH ART

Inside the fortress is like an open jewelry box: baseboards, stained glass, coffered ceilings, armor, and up to six rooms full of treasures, such as Los Reyes, with its sculptures of the Spanish monarchs from Don Pelayo to Juana la Loca and of course, paintings of great value such as the work The Holy Family of the Master of Santa Anna Hofje, of the S. XVI. In the rooms dedicated to the School, you can also see the famous El Galopo canyon.

TIME DOES NOT PASS THROUGH THE ALCAZAR

Despite its antiquity, despite the invasions and fires and despite the number of events that occurred here, the Alcázar is still standing safe and sound, thanks, among other things, to the creation in 1951, of the Patronato del Alcázar de Segovia, which maintains today the objective of regulating the use of the building; ensure its conservation and make it accessible to all from its three dimensions, as a dwelling of kings, as a military enclosure and as a Royal College of Artillery.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

More than half a million people visited the Alcazar during 2022. Nationals continue to be the ones who visit the monument the most, followed by American and French tourists. Currently the accesses are controlled with visitor counting cameras and capacity control, this artificial intelligence system keeps a statistical record of the number of visitors in real time, guaranteeing our safety and well-being. Too bad my characters didn't have the help of these holy algorithms in their time!

Cover of 'A girl in the Alcazar'.

*Ana Cadenas is a journalist and writer. Her new novel, A Girl in the Alcazar, is now on sale

You can follow El Mundo Viajes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Learn more