AlcazarInst05

HE Alcazar of Segovia stands on a craggy limestone rock where the rivers Eresma and Clamores meet, in the same place that was probabiy the site of a Celtiberian settlement, and of a Roman garrison, which chose it for its excel(ent strategical position in the natural pass between the two tabielands of Castile. For this same reason, as well as for the beauty of the landscape and the proximity of hunting terntory in the woods of Guadarrama, it was the ideai spot for building a fortified pałace, the exact origins of which are unknown, and which after diverse and successive constructions was to become, centunes later, one of the favourite residences of the Castilian kings.

Nothing 15 known of the existence of the castie in Visigothic times, and therefore the history of the Aicazar begins during the Reconquest of the penmsular iands occupied by the Moors, when Segovia became part of Christian Spain, in the year 1088, after the occupation of the town by Alphonso VI.

The first great works commenced at the beginning of the 13th. century, during the reign of Aifonso VIII, when the North wing of the castie facing the Eresma was built, in Cistercian Gothic style, and the keep with two lateral towers defending it. The Alcazar was the seat of a court of Castilian, Aragonese, French and Anglo-Norman noblemen and women.

The royal visits to this new pałace depended on whether there was peace or not in the Kmgdom of Castille. Fernando III spent little time in Segovia owing to his military campaigns in the Reconquest, while his son Aifonso X the Wise, madę the Alcazar his habitual dwelling north of Guadarrama and conveded the lateral turrets into astronomical observatories.

This Alcazar played an outstanding part in the civi! strife at the end of the 13th. century, when it suffered all the rigours of the wars brought about by the ambition of the great Castilian noblemen. It was subjected to assaults and attacks and a new rampart had to be built above the shores of the Eresma, as a defensive shield against the first cannons that madę their appearance in the battlefieids.

The new dynasty of the House of Trastamara enlarged the castie and transformed it into a true pałace. The end of the dvil wars in the last quarter of the Uth. century allowed the new monarchs to adapt the Alcazar to the needs of a numerous retinue, which spent long periods there. New halls were built in the North wing, the height of the keep increased (Juan ll's Tower) to 80 metres from the base of the moat, which enhanced the appearance of the castie in its environs; the group of smailer turrets was built and the moat enlarged. The interior was decorated with plasterwork, tiies and gilt ornamentation which madę the

Alcazar one of the most sumptuous palaces in Europę, and filled all its visitors with wonder.

Chivairous jousts and tournaments and great hunting parties were held there. Enrique III recewed the embassy of the great Khan Timur-Lenk (Tamerlan) in 1403, and it was used for Parliamentary sessions in 1383,1386 and 1390. Juan II and his successor, Enrique IV, brought great spiendour to the Alcazar of Segovia by surroundmg themselves with luxury-loving courtiers who patronised the arts and belles-lettres.

The prodamation of the Infanta Isabel as the Qeen of Castile on December 13th. 1474, was another landmark in the history of this Alcazar from which the pnncess, accompamed by her most loya! servants, set out for the Mam Square of Segov:a where she was acdaimed as the sovereign oueen. In January, 1475, in the King's Hall of the castie, the "Concord of Segovia", as it was called, was sicned, according to which, all royal documents would be jointly signed "I, the King, I the Oueen", by the two Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando. This political pad was the foundation for the order of the new State that was emerging.

During the reign of Carlos I, the Alcazar was once morę subjected to assaults and attacks, this time attributable to the peopie's discontent. The War of the Communes broke out and in $egovia, the “comuneros” dug trenches and put up barricades in an attempt to force the Alcazar to surrender However, thanks to the sturdiness of the defences and the bravery of its garrison, it was able to

withstand an assault that lasted from November, 1520, until April, 1521. Orce the upnsing had been put down, the emperor entrusted the then Prmce Felipe with the restoration of the castie, which reformation and extension work he continued after he was crowned king. He replaced the old drawbridge with a new one with double arches. All the interior and exterior stairs were built. The Courtyard was renovated, three of its sides bemg left with arcaoes while the arches of the fourth were stopped up and the royal coat of arms placed over the mam door. However, the most important element of the renovation and the one that was to change completely the image of the Alcazar was that of the roofs. Steep roofs and spires which replaced the former half-orange domes were covered with siatę. This change was brought about on the

personal initiative of the King and was to give the Alcazar of Segovia the appearance of a central European castie.

The decoration in the interior Halls was also restored and the Alcazar was once again the setting for a royal ceremony, the fourth wedding of King Felipe II with Annę of Austria on November 14th. 1570. However, it would never again be a royal residence as in previou$ centuries. Since Philip II established the residence of the court in Madrid in 1561, the visits of the monarchs were very few and far between. The longest visits were those of the prisioners in the Tower of John II. After its restoration in the 15th. century, cells and dungeons were built there, which housed illustrious pnsoners in their walls. Counts Trevińo, Olmedo and Aiba were imprisoned there and at the end of the 16th, century, the use of the Alcazar as a State prison was favoured, owing to its guarantee of safety and its nearness to the court. The number of pnsoners increased considerably after the Spanish War of Succession, which ended with the triumph of a new dynasty on the Spanish throne, that of the Bourbons. The last prisoner who occupied the cells of the Segovian castie was General Berenguer in the year 1931.

The 18th. century began with new monarchs of refined tastes who delighted in palaces fuli of mirrors and fountains. The Alcazar offered few possibilities for bemg the residence of this Versaillesque court and, in the reign of Charles III, its fate changed completely and it became the seat of the first Military Academy in Spain, the Royal College of the Artillery Corps.

In the War of Intiependence, the cadets had to abandon the Alcazar in the face of the French invasion, which com/erted the castie into a prison-hospital for captives. On their return in 1814, the interior had to be deaned and madę suitable for beginnmg the dasses again and for the visit of Fernando VII in 1817

Civil confrontations in the 19th. century again madę necessary the transference of the Royal College of Artiilery. The Carlists occupiec tne Alcazar in what was to be the last military offensive suffered by the castie. However, nonę of the wa^s to which it was witness had such negative conseguences for its existence as the fierce fire that broke out in 1862. The roofs, with their cover$ and spires burned for three days. The oanelling, stuccoed ceilings, furmture and paintings inside were destroyed by devastating flames. Only the walls of the castie and Juan ll's rower were respected by the fire. The Academy of Artillery left the Alcazar once and for all for the old Franciscan convent in Segoyia.

Twenty years passed before reconstruction began, and the Provincial Monuments Committee of the Segovian Town Council is to be thanked for preventing the land and ruins from being sold, as was proposed in a order issued by the First Republic.

The work began in the reign of Aifonso XII, with the restoration of walls, courtyards, towers and roofs and, when these were conduded in 1890, a new purpose was given to the old pałace: to house the General Military Archwes, which still occupy one of the halls today. In 1896, the Alcazar, together with its outbuildings was handed over once morę to the Artillery Branch.

The interior renovation was not begun until the 50's, after the forming of the Alcazar Trustee Board in 1951. With the restoration of ceilings, paintings, oanelling, stained glass and other decorative elements, what was once one of the !oveliest royal palaces in Europę has recovered its beauty.