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:The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.