This picture of the plain below the castle was taken from the round window of one of the dungeons high in the castle towers.  Note the characteristically barren central Spanish landscape.

Climbing the circular stairways past the dungeons brings you eventually to a high patio at the front of the castle, where you can look out, seemingly almost to forever, over the dormant plains.

The word alcazar comes from the Arabic and means 'castle'.  Many Spanish words beginning with 'al' indicate Arabic origins, a reflection of the fact that Spain was under Arab control from the early 700s through 1492.  These pictures were taken during the late fall of 1970, when I was a student living in Madrid.