Archaeological excavations conducted between 1999 and 2011 pushed the story of this hilltop back thousands of years before any castle existed. Beneath the medieval fortifications, researchers found an Argaric Bronze Age settlement that extended from the hilltop down to the site of the modern town, with homes, funerary sites, and a defensive wall. When the first castle or fortress was built here remains uncertain. The earliest written reference comes from Muslim sources in the 9th century, which identify the city of Lurqa as an important town in the territory of Theudimer, a Visigothic lord who governed seven cities in southeastern Spain under the Treaty of Orihuela. The fortress grew under Muslim rule into an impregnable stronghold, its interior divided by the Espaldon Wall into a western enclosure for livestock and grain storage and an eastern neighborhood called the barrio de Alcala.

In 1244, the Castilian Infante Don Alfonso -- the future Alfonso X -- conquered Lorca, and the castle became a critical defensive position against the Kingdom of Granada. For 250 years, this was frontier territory: the Christian kingdom of Murcia on one side, the Muslim state of Granada on the other, and Lorca Castle the watchtower between them. Alfonso X ordered the construction of the towers that still define the castle's silhouette -- the Alfonsina and the Espolón -- and rebuilt the walls so thoroughly that hardly a trace of the Muslim fortress survived above foundation level. The Castilian monarchs repopulated the town and maintained its defenses, understanding that Lorca's geographic position made it indispensable as long as Granada held out.

The Jewish Quarter discovered during hotel construction extended over 5,700 square meters within the alcazaba, the Moorish inner fortification. The physical separation from the rest of the city served a dual purpose: protecting the Jewish community from harm while keeping Christians and Jews apart, with Christians inhabiting the lower town. The remains include twelve homes arranged on four terraces with irregular streets adapted to the landscape, and a synagogue dating from the 14th century. The synagogue's interior preserves the place where the Torah was kept, examples of Gothic-style yeseria plasterwork, and the plinth where the bimah stood. An angular foundation stone was partially sunk into the floor -- a way to gain interior height without exceeding the height of surrounding buildings, in compliance with laws of the period. The women's section, the matroneum, was located above the vestibule, accessed by a separate corridor.

When the frontier disappeared with the fall of Granada in 1492, Lorca Castle lost its strategic purpose. The expulsion of the Jews by Ferdinand and Isabella depopulated the Jewish Quarter. The castle was abandoned, deteriorating into near-complete ruin by the 18th century. It saw brief military service again during the Napoleonic War of Spanish Independence, when walls were repaired, structures modified, and a battery of cannons installed -- changes that erased much of its medieval appearance. On June 4, 1931, the castle was declared a National Historic Monument. Then, on May 11, 2011, the earthquake struck. The Espolón Tower and sections of the walls suffered serious damage, adding a new chapter of destruction and repair to a site that has been rebuilt repeatedly over a millennium. Today, the castle hosts medieval reenactments through the Lorca Taller del Tiempo program, and the parador hotel built within its walls offers guests the unusual experience of sleeping inside a fortress whose foundations are older than most European nations.