The Palacio de los Golfines de Arriba is considered the finest palace in the Ciudad Monumental, a late Gothic and Renaissance building that combines the military severity of a noble fortified house with an increasingly elaborate ornamental vocabulary. The façade, facing the Plaza de Santa María, shows the transition clearly: the lower levels are plain and defensive, while the upper windows and tower display an almost extravagant Plateresque decoration.
The Golfines were one of several competing aristocratic clans that dominated Cáceres in the late medieval period. Their two palaces (de Arriba and de Abajo, upper and lower) are the clearest evidence of just how wealthy and powerful the conquest-era nobility of Extremadura had become.
The interior is not generally open to independent visitors but the exterior and the context of the plaza make this essential viewing. The palace is directly opposite the co-cathedral, and the two buildings together define the character of the old town's main square.