The Royal Palace of Olite, court of the Navarrese Kings until the conquest of Navarre and its incorporation into the Crown of Castile (1512), was one of the most luxurious medieval castles in Europe. For example, a German 15th century traveller wrote in his diary (which today is kept in the British Museum in London), “I am sure there is no king who has a more beautiful palace or castle and with so many golden rooms.”
Contemplating its majestic profile and the elegance of its fanciful towers, it is not difficult to travel back to the Middle Ages and imagine what courtly life was like in a palace with such rich decorations, exotic gardens and even a zoo. There were jousts and tournaments, ball games and even bullfights. Olite recalls all that past, when it became the seat of the Court in the time of Carlos III the Noble, during the Medieval Festivities.
The Olite Royal Palace is proof of the courtly splendour that the city of Olite experienced during the Middle Ages, a historic town located in the central part of Navarre, 42 km south of Pamplona. Declared a National Monument in 1925, it occupies a third of the town area and is considered one of the most interesting Gothic civil complexes in Europe.