As the construction of the cathedral marked a new ecclesiastical reality that emerged following the conquest of the Andalusian city of Larida in 1149, construction of the Castle of the King was the visual element of change at a political level.
The 12th and 14th centuries were times when the castle lived its best moments, coinciding with the situation that the city also experienced, which was right in the middle of booming trade and construction.
The situation changed radically during the 15th and 16th centuries, when the kings, during their stays in the city, failed to lodge there. At that point a process of abandonment and degradation began, culminating in its transformation into a military barracks during the Catalan Revolt. With its spaces partitioned, various mutilations were added during the War of Succession, but the most significant assaults on its patrimony occurred during the 19th and 20th centuries when the castle was used as an arsenal. Its explosion severely reduced the original dimensions of the castle.
The Castle of the King was declared a historic-artistic monument in 1931, but the troops remained there until 1948. Once the demilitarisation of the hill began, and unlike the cathedral, the castle was doomed to oblivion. It was during the decade of the eighties when the first archaeological excavations began for integrating it back into the lives of Lleida.