Torre de los Lujanes

Madrid, Spain, Spain

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Torre de los Lujanes is Madrid's oldest surviving civil building, a 15th-century Mudéjar tower-house complex in the Plaza de la Villa within the historic Austrias district.

Constructed around 1450 by Pedro de Luján and expanded in 1494 by his son Álvaro with Gothic-Mudéjar features like horseshoe arches, a crenellated turret, three floors of solid masonry, and an irregular patio layout, it served as noble residence and later housed an optical telegraph station in the 19th century.

Legend claims it briefly imprisoned Francis I of France after his 1525 capture at Pavia, though historical evidence suggests he merely stayed there; today it hosts the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas following 20th-century restorations.