Alcázar of Toledo

Few silhouettes define Toledo's skyline quite like that of the Alcázar. Set on one of the highest points in the city, this enormous square block, 60 metres along each side, can be recognised from afar by its four towers, which also reach 60 metres in height and are topped with the distinctive Madrid-style slate spires. Today it is home to the Army Museum and the Library of Castile-La Mancha, so a visit combines military history, architecture and superb views.

This commanding position explains its long history. The various peoples who passed through the city recognised the strategic value of the site, and as early as the 3rd century it served as a Roman palace. It was the Arabs who gave it the name that has come down to us, derived from «Al Qasar», meaning «fortress», a word that neatly captures its dual civil and military character.

Its present appearance owes much to the 16th century. In the 1540s, Charles I and his son Philip II undertook its restoration, at the height of the Spanish monarchy's splendour. A few years earlier, in July 1528, its halls had been the setting for a famous meeting: it was here that the emperor received Hernán Cortés after the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

The 20th century also left a deep mark. During the Spanish Civil War, the siege of the Alcázar caused serious damage to the building, and much of what can be seen today is the result of the reconstruction and restoration carried out between 1939 and 1957. Protected as a Site of Cultural Interest, the complex invites you to explore it like an open book in which each era has added its own chapter.