The gardens run back from the palace in a series of walled compartments, each a different period: formal Renaissance parterres near the buildings, looser planting further out, and a long raised gallery — the Galería del Grutesco — built into the old defensive wall.
⭐ There are hydraulic tricks. The órgano de agua plays on a schedule the operator publishes, and there are concealed jets in some of the paving that were designed to soak guests.
Peacocks live here and are entirely unbothered by visitors.
Our tip
Walk the raised gallery for the plan — from up there the compartments make sense in a way they do not at ground level.
The Alcázar Gardens, photographed
