Masonry and ashlar are utilized for the walls, while carved ashlar is used for the gateway, loopholes, southern gallery, and courtyard.

According to the 2005 Madrid Community Integrated Plan for Tourist Development, Manzanares el Real Castle is a historicist museum.

The 16th- and 17th-century palatial atmosphere is recreated in its storage chambers by real and reproduction artifacts. The entry hall, Santillana Room, Infantado Room, Ladies' Room, alcove, and oratory are set out.

These chambers show paintings, armour, and furniture from the 16th to 19th century, as well as 10 Flemish tapestries deposited by the now-defunct Diputación Provincial de Madrid before being handed to the Community of Madrid.

These were manufactured in Brussels in the mid-17th century and are the exhibition's most valuable pieces. Ian Van Leefdael and Gerard Van der Strecken's five-textile series The Life of Julius Caesar is the most extensive. Two paintings from the Life of Man series, by Ian Francis and Franz Van den Hecke, are based on Rubens' pupils' cartoons and may have involved the master. Untitled, the eleventh tapestry is biblical. Manzanares el Real, in the Community of Madrid, is home to the historic castle, known as Plaza de Armas. On the southern slopes of La Pedriza, the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range's most notable granite formation, it is at the end of a hill on the Manzanares River.

The date of its foundation is unknown, however it predates the adjacent famous new castle of Manzanares el Real, built in 1475. Only two walls in a planted enclosure remain. It's free.

The Muslims of Madrid (Ma'rit) erected it to defend against foreign armies and protect the Catholic Monarchs' standard-bearers. This Hispano-Muslim stronghold was built after the Inquisition burned Muslim manuscripts, but no details are known. The building's carpentry was remodeled by King Alfonso XI of Castile in the 14th century.

The Communities of Villa y Tierra of Segovia and Madrid fought over the woodlands and pastures of the upper Manzanares River after the Christian conquest of the Sierra de Guadarrama.

By Leonor Núñez de Guzmán, it was connected to the De la Cerda family.

On October 14, 1383, King John I of Castile donated the territory (and, presumably, the fortification) to the House of Mendoza, which built the Real de Manzanares estate around it.

In the last part of the 15th century, this strong family pushed the construction of a new castle nearby as a sumptuous retreat, causing the edifice to decay.

Manzanares el Real's ancient fortress was quadrangular. Three corners had cylindrical towers, and the fourth had the larger keep.

Its layout resembled that of the new castle, which was built later.

Mudejar, with granite stone and masonry, dominates.