The town is constructed around three main squares, the Plaza de la Constitución, the Plaza de la Corredera, and the Plaza Santa Maria. This last square is the oldest and is connected to the other two by narrow, twisting streets. It takes its name from the old cathedral which, damaged by floods in the seventeenth century, was later burnt by French troops. It is now in ruin. Above the square sits an austere, reconstructed Moorish castle tower called La Yedra. Still higher up on the rocky escarpment lie the ruins of still yet another ruined fortress.
Its primitive structure is relatively intact. The principal defenses consist of a crumbling principal tower and two separate enclosures, with some of its battlements still intact, connected by a long curtain wall. These walls also protected the monastery, whose remains are still visible nearby.
The history of Cazorla goes back more than two thousand years. Under the Romans the town had the name of Carcacena. Not only were there significant Iberian and Roman settlements here, but this was also the see of one of the first bishoprics of early Christian Spain. Under the Moors it was a strategic stronghold and one of dozens of fortresses and watchtowers guarding the mountains. Taken after a bitter struggle in 1235, during the Reconquista, the town then acted as an outpost for Christian troops.