Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá de Henares

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 #1,638 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #58 of the 600 mapped in Spain. Founded 1209, it is older than 76% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,265 times in the last 60 days, more than 77% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Guadalajara, 24 km away. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗