The Palacio de Carvajal is one of the few noble palaces in the Ciudad Monumental open to the public at no charge, and it is worth a visit both for the building and for the view from the garden. Built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by the Carvajal family, it mixes Gothic and Renaissance elements — a round tower with Moorish-influenced stonework, an arched portico, and a two-storey interior courtyard with orange trees.
The palace now serves as the headquarters of the Extremadura Regional Government's cultural department, which keeps it open during office hours and occasionally hosts exhibitions. The upper rooms contain period furniture and maps, and the terrace behind the building offers a good view over the old town rooftops.
The Carvajal family is remembered primarily because of Francisco de Carvajal, a conquistador who served under Francisco Pizarro in Peru and became notorious for his brutal effectiveness as a military commander. He was eventually executed after backing the wrong side in the civil wars between the conquistadors — a trajectory not untypical for men of his generation.