page_title: Alcázar of Seville
section_title: Patio de las Doncellas
hierarchical_section_title: Alcázar of Seville / The palace / Patio de las Doncellas
caption_attribution_description: English: Alcázar of Seville arch Italiano: Arco dell'Alcázar di Siviglia
context_page_description: The Royal Alcázars of Seville, historically known as al-Qasr al-Muriq and commonly known as the Alcázar of Seville, is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, built for the Christian king Peter of Castile. It was built by Castilian Christians on the site of an Abbadid Muslim alcazar, or residential fortress destroyed after the Christian conquest of Seville. The palace is a preeminent example of Mudéjar architecture in the Iberian Peninsula but features Gothic, Renaissance and Romanesque design elements from previous stages of construction. The upper storeys of the Alcázar are still occupied by the royal family when they are in Seville, and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies.
context_section_description: The name, meaning "The Courtyard of the Maidens", is a reference to the apocryphal story that the Moors demanded an annual tribute of 100 virgins from the Christian kingdoms of Iberia.
  The lower storey of the Patio was built for King Peter of Castile and contains inscriptions that refer to Peter as a "sultan".  Several reception rooms are arranged around a long rectangular reflecting pool in the center with sunken gardens on either side.  For many years, the courtyard was entirely paved in marble with a fountain in the center.  However, historical evidence showed the gardens and the reflecting pool were the original design and this arrangement was restored.  However, soon after this restoration, the courtyard was temporarily paved with marble once again at the request of movie director Ridley Scott.  Scott used the paved courtyard as the set for the court of the King of Jerusalem in his movie Kingdom of Heaven.  The courtyard arrangement was converted once more after the movie's production.
  The upper story of the Patio was an addition made by Charles V.  The addition was designed by Luis de Vega in the style of the Italian Renaissance although he did include both Renaissance and mudéjar plaster work in the decorations.  Construction of the addition began in 1540 and ended in 1572.
caption: One of the access-gates (b. 14th century) to Salón de los Embajadores in Palace of Peter of Castile
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