Segovia’s Alcazar is quite possibly the building that has most often been under threat of destruction in history. Over the centuries successive fires and battles have imperiled this imposing fortress, standing where the Rivers Eresma and Clamores meet, and the residence of kings since the 13th century. Today it has the fascinating appearance of a fairytale castle – but there’s a reason it looks like that. After a terrible fire in March of 1862 that practically burnt the whole thing down, the architects who rebuilt it, filled with the romanticism of the times, gave it this air of fantasy. We shouldn’t find it too surprising, given that the same happened to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Hence the current Alcázar is a legacy of romanticism. They also say that it served to inspire Walt Disney for Cinderella’s castle, but that’s another story that is impossible to prove…