Castle Alcazar of Segovia
Castle Alcazar of Segovia is an amazing architectural gem located in the old city of Segovia in Spain. This medieval fortress stands on a rocky hill above the place where two rivers merge, Eresma and Clamores. The background of Alcazar Segovia is composed of the mountain chain Guadarrama. Alcazar Castle is unique in nature mainly because of its strange shape, which many likened to the cape of a ship.
The history of this fascinating castle started as a royal palace. It is believed that it was built on the ruins of an old Roman fortress, parts of which are found in the highest part of the hill. According to historical documents this is the first mention of existence of a fort in this place. Castle Alcazar was constructed in the early 12th century. Alcazar was given to the name of Castle, which is the Arabic word meaning royal residence.
The original castle of Alcazar Segovia began to acquire the appearance of the palace during the 13th and 14th century when it was refurbished and expanded. During the reign of King John II (1405-1454) in which the east main tower and several smaller watch towers were added and then they further extended the protective fence wall.
During the reign of Philip II, who lived between 1558 and 1598, he made one of the largest reconstructions of Alcazar of Segovia. He builds slated roofs of the towers and domes of their spindle. Philip II married his fourth wife in Alcazar - Anne of Austria.
In the period from 1764 to 1862 in the halls of the castle Alcazar of Segovia is housed the Royal Artillery College. A large fire in 1862 destroyed much of the structure of the palace but was restored about two decades later, after which, Alcazar acquires motifs of romantic architecture, which is quite interesting they are merged with the original style of the palace.
The eastern tower was actually built and reinforced two times higher than the original building during the reign of John II which now bears his name. For a period of time the tower was used as a prison. A curious fact is that the castle Alcazar of Segovia was included in the background of the album cover of Norwegian black metal group, whitewash Tartaros. Alcazar is further background to the computer game "Resident Evil 4".
