Segovia's Castle (Alcázar of Segovia)

This week we took a tour of the local Castle in Segovia with our culture class. As usual I looked up a bit of information about the Castle before I went in order to better appreciate the significance of this Castle. One of the most interesting things, for me, is that this Castle was one of the inspirations for the Walt Disney castle. Below is a picture of Walt Disney's Castle.However, it obviously served a more important role. It was originally built as a fortress but has since served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy.

The following information contained in this blog has been paraphrased from various sites on Wikipedia. I was not able to obtain enough information about the Alcazar, Juana la Loca, or Isabella from other sources in order to provide a description that is as sufficient as the words from Wikipedia. The links to the various sites containing this information can be found at the following addresses:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segovia_Alcazar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juana_la_loca

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile

This Castle was the favorite residences of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Castile and an important fortress in the defense of the kingdom. The Kingdom of Castile was a medieval kingdom. It came to fruition in the 9th century. It was one of the kingdoms that founded the Crown of Castile, and the Kingdom of Spain. During the rule of the Kingdom of Castile the castle was constructed and the palace was extended by the Monarchs.

The royal court eventually moved to Madrid and this Castle, as previously mentioned, served as a state prison for almost two centuries before King Carlos III founded the Royal Artillery School in 1762. It served this function for almost a hundred years until March 6 1862 where a fire destroyed the roofs and framework. In 1882 the Castle was restored to its original state. Then four years later King Alfonso XII ordered the Alcázar to be handed over to the Ministry of War as a military college.

Almost each king that lived in the Castle added new parts to the building. King Philip II added the conical spires and the slate roofs. However, the single largest contributor to the continuing construction of the Alcázar was King John II who built the John II Tower.

Now the "Alcázar" is one of the most popular historical sights in Spain. Some of the more famous rooms in the building include: the Hall of Ajimeces which houses many works of art, the Hall of the Throne and the Hall of Kings with a frieze representing all of the Spanish Kings and Queens all the way to Juana La Loca, pictured below.

I was curious about how Juana la Loca received her name so I looked up information about her. She was the daughter of Ferdinand II and Isabella and apparently she cried night and day for her husband while he was overseas. She eventually joined Philip and her insane jealousy and constant suspicion of him made her notorious. In 1503, Juana and Philip traveled to Spain for Joanna's swearing in as heir to the Castile kingdom. Pregnant with her fourth child, Juana became depressed when Philip decided to go back to his own kingdom. She refused to eat and began weeping night and day again. One night, she ran out of the castle, and refused to come back inside despite the freezing weather. After spending thirty-six hours by the castle gates screaming, she became known as "Juana la Loca".

Another interesting fact about the Castle is that in 1474, it played a major role in the rise of her mother; Queen Isabella I, pictured above. Upon King Henry IV's death in Madrid Isabella immediately took refuge within the walls of this Alcázar where she received the support of Andres Cabrera and Segovia's council. She was crowned the next day as Queen of Castile and Leon. It was also the site where she married Ferdinan II. She and her husband laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain. Isabella was also involved in the completion of the "Reconquista", establishing the Spanish Inquisition. She was also the sponsorer of Christopher Columbus' voyages that led to the discovery of America.