Here are a few intriguing facts about Segovia, Spain: The city’s iconic Roman aqueduct, stretching 2,600 feet long and 93 feet in height, was made without cement.
Cochinillo asado, or roast suckling pig, is the city’s most famous dish and was brought here by the Romans and never left. Although there has apparently been some sort of military fort on this spot, the famed Alcazar of Segovia was first mentioned in records in the 12th century.
After you wander around Segovia, gawking at the aqueduct, marveling at the city’s enormous cathedral, and indulging in a huge hunk of delicious roasted pork from one of the city’s fine restaurants, it’s the bewitching Alcazar that may have the most gravitational pull for you while you’re in this enchanting town of 50,000 people that is a 52-minute train ride from Madrid.
From Roman Castrum to medieval castle
Sitting on a rocky crag on the western edge of the old town of Segovia, the Alcazar is one of the most imposing-looking structures in all of Europe. It didn’t always look this way. About 2,000 years ago, there was a castrum, or fort, that the Romans had built.
- The year 711 is an important one for Spain. That’s when the Moors, Muslim Arabs, crossed over from Northern Africa and began a centuries-long occupation of most of the Iberian peninsula. In the early centuries of Moorish rule, the Berber Almoravid Dynasty built a fortress in the spot where the Roman fort had been in Segovia. The fort may have been made mostly of wood, which is why there are no remnants of it today.
- In the 12th century, Spanish-Christian king Alfonzo VI helped lead a reconquest, or Reconquista, of southern Spain and Segovia fell back under the Spanish monarchy again. It is in this time period and the centuries that followed when the Alcazar would start to take the iconic Gothic-esque shape that you see today.
- In 1474, Queen Isabella I was crowned here as the Queen of Castile y Léon. Five years later, she would also become Queen of Aragon after she married King Ferdinand II, thus uniting an enormous swath of Spain under one crown. Together, they were the first monarchs to be referred to as the “King and Queen of Spain” and were nicknamed the “Catholic Monarchs.” The royal couple would go on to make an indelible mark—for good and bad—on the Iberian peninsula.
- In the 16th century, under the rule of Phillip II and his marriage to Anna of Austria, the castle acquired its tall spires. Phillip II was inspired by the many castles in Central Europe—particularly Germany, Austria, and Bohemia (the western half of today’s Czech Republic).
The Disney Castle?
The Alcazar of Segovia has many of those classic castle traits that we often associate with fairy tales and Disney productions. The moat, the keep, the drawbridge, and the four spires all conspire to scream “Disney.”
But was this the castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty’s castle and/or Cindarell’s fortress? After all, many people point to Neuschwanstein in Bavaria as the source of the castle at Disneyland in California and Disneyworld in Florida:
- Well, the correct answer is that both are right. Cinderella’s castle and Sleeping Beauty’s castle were, in fact, inspired by a handful of medieval structures in Europe. In addition to the Alcazar of Segovia and Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, these include Hohenzollern Castle in Germany, Château d’Ussé in France, Craigievar Castle in Scotland, Moszna Castle in southwestern Poland, and the Tyn Church (Staroměstské nám., 110) on Old Town Square in Prague.
- In other pop-culture-related news, the castle served as the setting for the 1965 Orson Welles’ film “Chimes at Midnight.” The castle was also used in the 1960 American film “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver,” serving as Brobdingnag. “The Wheel of Time,” a recent American fantasy TV series from 2021, also relied heavily on footage of the Alcazar.
An insider’s view
If just gawking at this medieval fortress from afar or even upclose does not relieve your castle fix, you’re in luck: the palace interior is open for visits. The inside rooms of the Alcazar are splendid and exquisite, often crammed with elements of Mudéjar design—the style of Moorish Spain—similar to what you might see in the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazar in Sevilla.
- In the magnificent Hall of the Fireplace, there are Flemish-style tapestries that show images of Philip II and Philip III. Most remarkable, though, is an image of the Alcazar before it got its “Disney-fied” look with turrets and spires. You can also see an image of the Segovia Cathedral and how it looked in the 16th century.
- In the baroque Hall of Kings, you’ll find paintings of all 52 kings who had ruled from the Alcazar.
- In other high-ceilinged rooms, you’ll find lots of period furniture, more portraits of Spanish monarchs, enough weapons and medieval armor to start a crusade, plus-sized stained glass windows, and ornate ceilings. Once you reach the Patio de Pozo, plan to spend a few long minutes gazing out at the jaw-dropping view of Segovia and the surrounding countryside.
Is Segovia worth a visit?
The answer is obvious: a resounding yes.
With trains from Madrid taking about an hour—give or take 10 or 15 minutes, depending on which train you take and which Madrid train station is is departing from—it’s very easy to travel to Segovia from the Spanish capital.
