The Alcazar was a royal residence until 1570. Isabella set out from here in 1474 to be crowned Queen of Castile. Philip II celebrated his marriage to Anne of Austria in the castle.

In the 16C it was a state prison, where important persons were detained. The alcázar is strategically positioned at the confluence of the Eresma and the Clamores rivers.

Little is known of its origins, which are thought to go back to the post-Roman period.

It was enlarged by Alfonso VII 1122-55. Alfonso X, the Wise, opened the Romanesque double-arched windows with Mudéjar paintings in the façade of the old palace. In the 15C the family of Trastamara made Segovia one of its favourite cities.

The alcázar was completely rebuilt under Juan II, who made splendid rooms, such as the N. hall (a large rectangular room), and La Galera, El Solio and Las Pinas, as well as the furnishing of these and the older rooms of Los Reyes, El Cordón, El Tocador de la Reina and the chapel.

In the chapel the lovely glass windows were designed by the local artist Muñoz de Pablos, who also painted the enormous wall painting of the coronation of Isabella the Catholic in the Salón de la Galera. The lavishly decorated keep also dates from this time. Philip II had the slate roofs, the Herrera-style (the same used for the El Escorial monastery) inner courtyard, the entrance portal and the enormous Habsburg escutcheone built. In the 18C Charles III installed the Artillery Academy here.

In 1862 the alcázar de Segovia was destroyed by fire. A.Bermejo’s reconstruction of 1882 further enhanced the silhouette of the old palace. The fortress now serves as a military archive and houses an armaments museum with weapons from the 15-18C