The Alcázar was the favorite residence of the Castillian monarchs during the Middle Ages. The court moved to Madrid in the 1500s, and the fort was used as a prison for almost two hundred years. In 1762, King Carlos III founded the Royal Artillery School at the Alcázar, where it remained until a fire badly damaged the building in 1862. Rebuilding began in 1882 and was finished in 1896. The General Military Archives were located in the upper floor in 1898 where they remain today. The current design of the building is a fanciful reconstruction of the building that was destroyed by the fire of 1862.