Spain · 13th century
The Palace of the Kings of Navarre of Olite or Royal Palace of Olite is a castle-palace in the town of Olite, in Navarre, Spain. It was one of the seats of the Court of the Kingdom of Navarre, since the reign of Charles III "the Noble" until its conquest by Castile (1512).
Surely there is no king with a more beautiful castle or palace and with so many gilded rooms (...) it could not say or even could imagine how magnificent and sumptuous is this palace (...)
This monument was quite damaged (except the church) in 1813 by a fire caused by general Espoz y Mina during the Napoleonic French Invasion to prevent its occupation by French troops. It was largely restored from 1937 in works that lasted for 30 years giving it back its original appearance. Nevertheless, miscellaneous architectural decoration of its interior, and the outside gardens, were lost.
Text adapted from “Palace of the Kings of Navarre of Olite” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Royal Palace of Olite ranks #840 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #33 of the 607 mapped in Spain. Founded c. 1201, it is older than 75% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 5,881 times in the last 60 days, more than 88% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Vitoria-Gasteiz, 93 km away. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.
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