Toledo - Alcázar

On the eastern slopes of the hill on which the town is built is the Alcázar, reached from the Plaza de Zocodover. On the site of an earlier Roman fort and laid out in a square, with corner towers, this imposing structure was built by Covarrubias and Herrera in the 16th century. It was burned down by the French in 1810 but was subsequently restored. In 1882 it became a military college, and in the early days of the Civil War the Nationalist garrison held out for more than two months against Republican forces until it was blown up and the defenders were forced to surrender. After restoration it became a museum on the Civil War, and is still regarded by Franco supporters as a monument to the heroism of its defenders.