Royal Prision (17th Century)

Former civilian penitentiary that guards a part of the History of the City of Coria in its cells.

This Baroque-style Royal Prison (Cárcel Real) was built by the architect Alonso Hernández de Garrovillas with the funds of the City and its Political Party, in 1686, according to the inscription carved in stone and placed on the granite lintel doorway. It was built over other previous prison buildings, as indicated in its royal ownership record when, in the early 16th century, the Catholic Monarchs enforced an extensive construction in all important places of the kingdom of Castile: the foundation of their own Councils and Prisons.

Its main structure is made of brick, with its corners, openings and eaves finished in stone masonry, and has a rectangular layout that divides it into two floors. The ground floor gives access to the hallway, the hearing room, and the jailer room, in addition to two strong cells, one ordinary cell and two others for punishment, one of which is buried since 1693 and belongs to the 15th-16th-century prison. The upper floor is composed of the governor’s room, the kitchen, two strong cells, one cell for the nobility and one ordinary cell. An old prison that continued to operate as a penitentiary until 1981, whose cells were renovated to be converted into the Museum of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the City of Coria since 1999.

Video

Audio guide

Map

Index card

Location: Historic centre
Address: Calle de las Monjas, 2
Municipality: 10800 Coria (Cáceres)
Phone: 927 50 80 00 – Ext 250
Email: carcelreal@coria.org
Website: https://www.coria.org/carcelreal/

Royal Prison Museum Exhibition Opening times

  • Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00–14.00
  • Tuesday to Saturday, 17.00–19.00

(Open every day of the year except Mondays, 1 January, 24 June, 25 December and public holiday eveningsos tarde)

Admission free

Silueta Ciudad de Coria