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Castles, forts, walled towns and cities, watchtowers...
Spain and Portugal are strewn with mediaeval and later military
buildings and structures. The fall of the Roman Empire was
followed by centuries of warfare: barbarian invasions; the
regicidal reigns of the Visigoths and Suevs; the Moorish occupation
of Spain and Portugal; tension and feuding between the bickering
Moorish kingdoms and principalities; waves of furious, fundamentalist
invasions from North Africa; squabbling, cattle-stealing and
land appropriation as the reconquering Christian warlords
fought among themselves as well as against the Moors —
altogether, over a thousand years of bloody strife have left
their mark on the landscape.
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Peñafiel Castle (this photograph © José
Ignacio, 2002).* |
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Nowadays, 'castles in Spain' means something splendid but
non-existent. "Fashionable adventurers in France used to impose
on the credulous and get money and social advantages out of
them by telling tales of their 'castles in Spain', which,
needless to say, they did not possess," is the explanation
of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable*. In fact,
far from being unreal, there are over 2,500 castles in Spain,
more than 500 being in good condition. Of these, many are
in private or institutional (e.g., military) hands and can
only be seen from the outside, but some 165 are open to visitors.
And as well as castles, fortified structures in Spain include
towers, atalayas or Moorish watchtowers, walled towns
and cities and fortified churches, palaces and manor houses.
Castles in Castile. The relationship between the words
'castle' and 'Castile' is easy to see, and the two Castiles
— old and new — are littered with fortified buildings
(Old Castile corresponds almost exactly to the modern Castile-León,
New Castile to Castile-La
Mancha). Most of the castles in Spain were built either
by the invading Moors (711 onwards) or during the Christian
reconquista (completed in 1492, to all intents and
purposes), so they were made for real warfare. In many cases,
their architectural styles are mixed, reflecting changes in
ownership. For example, the largest and oldest (965) castle
in Europe is
Gormaz in Soria (which gives the nearby village of San
Esteban de Gormaz its name), is a Moorish castle later
adapted by the (re)conquering Christians for their own use.
The very picturesque 15th-century castle at Coca is in
the mudéjar (Spanish Muslim) style, its striking red-brick
construction creating an oddly Disneylandish effect. In contrast,
Peñafiel Castle in Valladolid is an impressive, entirely Christian,
fourteenth-century building which looks like a gigantic, stranded
ship, built as it is along the length of a high ridge. (Peñafiel
has the added attraction of a wine museum and any number of
asadores, most good, some excellent, serving typical
Castilian roast meats, especially roast lamb).
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| Castle
near Rio Lobos, Soria |
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Routes. In many autonomous regions and provinces (Estremadura,
Valladolid...), the local tourist boards suggest a Ruta
de los Castillos, which can sometimes be done in a single
day, or two or three days without a car, while other rutas
will need the better part of a week. Such routes often have
the advantage of taking you to parts of the country you might
not otherwise see, such as Soria,
a little known, unspoilt province with a tremendous heritage,
which allows itself the luxury of no fewer than thirteen castle
routes.
Walled towns. The most imposing city walls in Spain
are probably those around the city of Ávila, which
you can walk all the way around the top of, if you have time
and restoration work permitting. (Apart from its walls, Ávila
is famous for its mystics, especially Saint Theresa, its cathedral
and its yemas, sweets made from egg-yolks.)
Another especially noteworthy walled town is Peñíscola
in Castellón, once the stronghold of antipope Benedict
XIII, aka Pedro de Luna, Papa Luna. Peñiscola
is where Charlton Heston played El Cid defending Valencia.
Although the locations of this 1961 epic included other places
in Spain, Italy and even England, it was in Peñiscola
that "El
Cid" left a lasting impression. Indeed, here it could
be considered one of those films which changed the history
of the place where it was made. Much sorely needed money was
spent in the area, the walled town was "restored,"
and many locals were given work, some even as extras. No wonder
then that it is still remembered in fading photos on bar walls.
Peñiscola is now an appealing resort, with sunworshippers
occupying the sand where Heston as the dead Cid strapped to
his horse routed the terrified, superstitious Moors.
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*This photograph © José Ignacio 2000. He has
many more splendid Spanish castle photographs here.
*The 1898 version of Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable gave a slightly different
explanation for 'castles in Spain.' According to this, Gallic
logic said, simply, "Spain has no chateaux."
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