Castillo de Ponferrada
| Castillo de Ponferrada | ||
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 Main gate of the Castillo de Ponferrada |
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| Alternative name (s): | Castillo de los Templarios | |
| Creation time : | 1178 | |
| Conservation status: | Partly preserved | |
| Place: | Ponferrada | |
| Geographical location | 42 ° 32 '39 " N , 6 ° 35' 37" W | |
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The castle of Ponferrada is a medieval Templar stronghold in Ponferrada , which in the northern Spanish province of León is located.
description
The ground plan of the castle has the shape of an irregular polygon. The northern part, which dates from the 12th century, and the rest, which was built in the 15th century and supplemented in the 19th and 20th centuries, can be distinguished.
history
The original castle complex was probably a Celtic fortification. In 1178 Ferdinand II of León allowed the Knights Templar to establish a fortress in Ponferrada. Among other things, it was intended to protect the pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela.
Alfonso IX von Leon took Ponferrada from the Templars again in 1198 because they had supported his opponent Alfonso VIII of Castile . In 1211 the Templars received Ponferrada back in exchange for some castles.
With the dissolution of the Knights Templar in 1307, the Spanish Master Templar Rodrigo Yánez gave Ponferrada to the Infante Philip, brother of King Ferdinand IV of Castile and León , to protect it from confiscation.
In 1340 Pedro Fernández de Castro started building a new castle. Rodrigo Osorio took possession of the castle by force in 1480 and instigated a rebellion against the royal family. The royal troops then besieged the castle and recaptured it in 1486
The castle began to decline in 1850: the city administration sold the walls and used them as building material. The castle courtyard was partly rented out as pastureland, at times also used as a football field. In 1924 the castle was declared a national monument ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) and placed under protection.
literature
- José María Luengo, Severo Gómez Núñez: El Castillo de Ponferrada , La Crónica de León, 1929 [not evaluated]
Web links
- Castillo de los Templarios (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Castillo de los Templarios on ponferrada.org (Spanish)