Cuéllar Castle is conserved in good condition, and it has been built in different architectural styles between the 13th and 18th century. Much of the castle in the Gothic and Renaissance styles. The military building was extended and transformed in the 16th century, turning it into the palace of the Duke of Alburquerque. Among its historical owners, stands out Álvaro de Luna and Beltrán de la Cueva, as well as the successive Dukes of Alburquerque.
The Dukes of Alburquerque lived in this castle for centuries until they moved to Madrid to be close to the court. Thereafter their use of the castle was as leisure and holidays palace, abandoning the building slowly. At the late 19th century the castle was almost completely abandoned, and was victim of robberies. In 1938 was a political prison was settled within the castle, and after was established also a sanatorium for prisoners affected by tuberculosis. It was used as prison till 1966.
In 1972, the Department of Fine Arts carried out an intensive restoration, and made it the home of a Vocational Education school, which continues to this day.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.