Spain · 13th century
The Archiepiscopal Palace of Alcalá de Henares (Spanish: Palacio Arzobispal de Alcalá de Henares) is a palace located in Alcalá de Henares, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It is now home to the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares. It is located in the Plaza del Palacio and this form part of the monumental set declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The building complex dates from 1209. Two thirds were destroyed in a devastating fire in 1939, during the Spanish Civil War. The part of the building which is preserved is what is left intact after the 1939 fire, the damaged parts were not restored.
In this building came to reside different Castilian monarchs, were held synods and councils, and in here were born the youngest daughter of the Catholic Monarchs and future queen of England, Catherine of Aragon, and Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, son of Joanna "the Mad". In addition, it is famous for being the place where the first meeting between the Catholic Monarchs and Christopher Columbus was held.
Text adapted from “Archiepiscopal Palace of Alcalá de Henares” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá de Henares ranks #1,654 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #58 of the 607 mapped in Spain. Founded 1209, it is older than 74% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,265 times in the last 60 days, more than 80% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Guadalajara, 24 km away. It is stop 23 of 28 on the Castile castle route, Valladolid to Madrid. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.
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