Located on the top of the hill, the Castle of the King is its guardian and sentry.
It is popularly known as the Suda, an Arabic word which means a closed urban area. The Suda name referred to the Andalusian fortress built during the 9th century on the site now occupied by the Castle of the King, but it is also the name that documentary sources designate as the noble district that stretched down the hill.
It was the palace where the king resided during his stay in Lleida. Its construction reflects different phases between the late 13th and 14th century, which is why Romanesque and Gothic forms coexist.
It was the most remarkable civil building in the city and an important centre for political decisions. In the Castle of the King, Courts were held on several occasions, but the most significant ones took place in 1214, when a boy of just 6 years, the future James I the Conqueror, was crowned king by Aragon and Catalonia. Grand agreements were also signed such as the Paréage of Andorra (1278 and 1288) or the Querimonia of Val d'Aran (1313).