Spain's pride looks like Disneyland. It's hard to believe Gaudí designed the palace

The Bishop's Palace in Astorga, Spain, stands as a testament to Antoni Gaudí's architectural genius, though it presents a style far removed from his more famous Catalan works like Sagrada Familia or Park Güell. This neo-Gothic structure, located in the province of León, resembles a fairytale castle with its soaring towers, earning it the nickname "Disneyland of Spain." It is one of only three buildings designed by Gaudí outside of Catalonia.

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The Bishop's Palace in Astorga, Spain, looks like a building from a Disney fairytale about princesses.

Gaudí's design for the palace, commissioned in 1886 by Bishop Juan Bautista Grau y Vallespinós, incorporated his innovative structural and aesthetic solutions within the fashionable 19th-century neo-Gothic framework. The palace is planned on a Greek cross layout, surrounded by a moat and a later-developed garden featuring large angel sculptures. Internally, it reflects a typically Gothic style with stained glass, ceramic tiles, mosaics, frescoes, and tapestries created by artisans from across Spain.

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Gaudí referred to the fashionable 19th-century neo-Gothic style, adding his own innovative structural and aesthetic solutions.

Construction began in 1887 but was halted in 1893 following the bishop's death and Gaudí's subsequent disagreements with the diocese over the building's design. Gaudí abandoned the project, and it remained unfinished for nearly a decade. Architect Ricardo García Guereta eventually took over, completing the palace between 1905 and 1914. Ironically, the building never served its intended purpose as a bishop's residence.

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The palace has four floors: a crypt, a ground floor with offices and residences for the bishopric staff, a first floor housing the throne room and chapel, and an attic.

In 1964, the Bishop's Palace was transformed into the Museum of Paths (Museo de los Caminos), celebrating its significance to the region. That same year, it was recognized as a Spanish cultural heritage site. A curious detail of Gaudí's original design was the inclusion of an elevator in the north tower, which, had it been implemented, would have been one of Spain's earliest passenger elevators. The building was eventually equipped with one many years later.

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The granite palace references medieval architecture.