The Alcázar is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe — the Spanish royal family keeps apartments here. What you visit is a complex of buildings from several centuries layered on a Muslim fortress.
⭐ The heart of it is the Palacio del Rey Don Pedro, built in the 1360s for a Christian king by Muslim craftsmen, in a style so close to Granada's that craftsmen were reportedly sent between the two courts. This is Mudéjar architecture: Islamic form and technique, Christian patron.
The Patio de las Doncellas is its centre — a long pool between arcades of carved plaster. ⚠️ Its sunken garden was paved over for centuries and only excavated back to something like the original in recent decades.
⭐ The gardens are large, and most people run out of time before reaching the far end of them. Allow more than you think.
⚠️ It sells out, genuinely, and in season entry is timed. The operator publishes what is available; no price or time appears on this site.
Book the first slot of the day and go straight to the Patio de las Doncellas before the groups reach it.
Real Alcázar, photographed
