The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos sits beside the Guadalquivir in Córdoba, shaded by palms and orange trees. Its name means Fortress of the Christian Monarchs. It has served as a royal residence, a headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition and a municipal prison, all within the same walls.

Alfonso the Wise began rebuilding the site after the Christian conquest of the city. Alfonso XI, the Avenger, completed it in 1328 as a statement in European gothic style, deliberately contrasting with the Moorish grandeur of the nearby mosque. His legacy is complicated: he built Arab-style baths beneath one corner for his powerful mistress, while his queen was packed off to a convent.

VoiceMap's tours trace the castle's violent reversals, from palatial suites converted into Inquisition cells to a night in 1506 when Cordobans stormed the compound and freed 400 prisoners, chasing the feared inquisitor out of the city.