.7.  THE MONARCHS' ROOM

Through the large double-arched windows we can see the Veracruz Church, El Parral Monastery, the Sanctuary of La Fuencisla and the Convent of El Carmen. In its time it was the most important room in the Alcázar. The frieze shows the monarchs of Asturias, Castile and Leon. The arrangement and construction of this room in honour of past monarchs is linked to the reigns of Alfonso X and Enrique IV.

The present arrangement of the frieze, consisting of 52 seated sculptures of the monarchs of Castile and Leon, is a design commissioned by Philip II to the royal painter Hernando de Avila, who was also the author of the Book of Monarchs. In the corbels below the sculptures the numbering of the monarchs is different with respect to the Alfonsos, because number VII is attributed to Doña Urraca's husband, Alfonso of Aragón, and therefore in this frieze Alfonso "the Wise" becomes Alfonso XI. This numbering was approved by Philip II.

The walls are decorated with the portraits of Philip II, and also of Queens Isabel of Bourbon and of Anna of Austria; there is also a painting called "The Seizure of Cádiz" by Alfonso X "the Wise", by E. Vejarano.