Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos ( Spanish for " Alcázar of the Christian Monarchs " ) , also known as the Alcázar of Córdoba , is a medieval Alcázar located in Córdoba , Spain next to the Guadalquivir River and near the Grand Mosque . The Alcázar takes its name from the Arabic word " القصر " ( " Al - Qasr " , meaning " the Palace " ) . The fortress served as one of the primary residences of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon . History . In early medieval times , the site was occupied by a Visigoth fortress . When the Visigoths fell to the Umayyad conquest of Hispania , the emir s of the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus rebuilt the structure . The Umayyads fell to the Abbasid Caliphate and the surviving member of the Umayyad Dynasty , Abd ar - Rahman I , fled to Córdoba . Abd ar - Rahman I ' s successors established the independent Caliphate of Córdoba and used the Alcázar as their palace . The city subsequently flourished as an important political and cultural center , and the Alcázar was expanded to a very large compound with baths , gardens , and the largest library in the West . Watermills on the nearby Guadalquivir powered water lifting to irrigate the extensive gardens . In 1236 , Christian forces took Córdoba during the Reconquista . In 1328 , Alfonso XI of Castile began building the present day structure on part of the site for the old fortress . Other parts of the Moorish Alcázar had been given as spoils to the bishop , nobles , and the Order of Calatrava . Alfonso ' s structure retained only part of the Moorish ruins but the structure appears Islamic since Alfonso used the Mudéjar style . The Alcázar was involved in the civil war where Henry IV of Castile faced a rebellion that backed his teenage , half - brother Alfonso . During the war , the Alcázar ' s defenses were upgraded to deal with the advent of gunpowder . At the same time , the Alcázar ' s main tower , now known as the " Inquisition Tower " was constructed . Henry ' s successor , Isabella and her husband Ferdinand used the Alcázar for one of the first permanent tribunals of the Spanish Inquisition and as a headquarters for their campaign against the Nasrid dynasty in Granada , the last remaining Moorish kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula . The Inquisition began using the Alcázar as one of its headquarters in 1482 , converting much of it , including the Arab baths , into torture and interrogation chambers . The Inquisition maintained a tribunal here for three centuries . Boabdil was held prisoner here in 1483 until he promised to make Granada a tributary state . When Boabdil refused to surrender his kingdom in 1489 , the Christians launched an attack . Isabella and Ferdinand ' s campaign against Granada succeeded in 1492 . The same year , the monarchs met Christopher Columbus in the Alcázar as he prepared to take his first voyage to the Americas . The Alcázar served as a garrison for Napoleon Bonaparte ' s troops in 1810 . In 1821 , the Alcázar became a prison . Finally , the Spanish government made the Alcázar a tourist attraction and national monument in the 1950s . Description . The Alcázar centers on the " Patio Morisco " ( " Courtyard of the Moriscos " ) , another popular feature . There are two towers : the " Torre de los Leones " ( " Tower of the Lions ) and the " Torre de Homenaje " ( " Tower of Homage " ) . The latter has Gothic features including an ogival ceiling . A series of Roman mosaics and a Roman sarcophagus are displayed in the Inquisition Tower .