Toledo - Alcazar

In 192 BC, the Romans conquered the area and founded the outpost Toletum. Due to its iron ore deposits, Toledo developed into an important settlement. Since the first barbarian invasions, the ancient walls were reinforced. In 411 the Alans and later the Visigoths conquered the city. Toledo was the capital of the Visigoths' empire from about 531 to 711.

The Moors conquered the place in 712. Toledo experienced its heyday during the period of Moorish rule as Ṭulayṭula during the Caliphate of Córdoba until its conquest by Alfonso VI in 1085, after a four-year siege. In 1088, only a few years after the conquest, Archbishop Bernard of Toledo obtained confirmation from Pope Urban II that Toledo should hold the "primatus in totis Hispaniarum regnis" (primacy in all the kingdoms of the Iberian dominions). The Archbishop of Toledo is still today the Primate of the Catholic Church of Spain.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Toledo school of translators translated ancient philosophical writings (Plato, Aristotle) that had been translated from Greek into Arabic, but also genuinely Arabic writings from the fields of astronomy, mathematics, Islamic religion and theology into Latin.

After the conquest by Alfonso VI, Toledo became the residence of the Kingdom of Castile in 1087 and remained the capital of Spain until 1561.

The Alcazar is located in the highest part of Toledo. It originated from a Roman complex and was renovated and rebuilt several times during the Middle Ages. The current complex dates back to a plan by Alonso de Covarrubias in 1537 during the reign of Charles I. In 1710, during the War of Succession, this complex was destroyed by flames and then rebuilt.

It is a large quadrangular building measuring 60 meters on a side, framed by four large towers 60 meters high.
Following the July 1936 coup d'etat in Spain, the acting military commander in Toledo refused to provide weapons to Madrid and hid instead in the alcázar with about 1,000 rebels, food, ammunition and some hostages. They became subject to an unsuccessful siege by forces loyal to the Republic during the early stages of the Spanish Civil War. Franco and his Army of Africa took a detour from their advance towards Madrid and lifted the siege of the alcázar in September 1936.