Castell de Cardona

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Castell de Cardona
In the Parador of Cardona

The Castell de Cardona ( Catalan for 'Castle of Cardona', in Spanish Castillo de Cardona ) is a historic fortress in the municipality of Cardona located in the comarca of Bages in the autonomous region of Catalonia around 32 km northwest of Manresa .

history

The fortress rises on a hill (589 meters), the silhouette of which towers over the town and offers a particularly good view of the valley and the salt mountains. The Castell was built in 886 by Guifré el Pilós . He was the last Count of Barcelona appointed by the Franks .

Today the Parador de Cardona, a state-run luxury hotel, is located in the palace, which was rebuilt in the 18th century . During the renovation, however, only a few elements from the 11th century were preserved, including the collegiate church of Sant Vincenç and the famous Torre de la Minyona ('Tower of the Miss'). According to tradition, this tower is said to have served as a prison for Adelaïde, the daughter of a Count of Cardona, and that's how it got its name.

The Castell de Cardona owes its long history as a defensive structure to the Franconian counties since the Carolingian era for the fortress, which is visible from afar, and the prominent location. In addition, a large salt deposit was found in the immediate vicinity in Roman times, which is still mined today. Since salt was of great importance as a preservative for food in the Middle Ages , unusually careful measures were taken to protect the area and the salt mine by military means. Particularly against the Islamic conquest, they successfully defended themselves, so that the castle was soon considered impregnable and its owners were promoted to the highest ranks of the nobility.

literature

  • Ernst Adam: Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque. Frankfurt 1968, p. 77.
  • Fritz René Allemann / Xenia von Bahder: Catalonia and Andorra. Cologne 1980, 4th edition 1986. (DuMont Art Travel Guide), p. 227, fig. 90–92.
  • Xavier Barral i Altet (ed.): The history of Spanish art. Cologne 1997, pp. 90-92.
  • Marcel Durliat : Romanesque Art. Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1983, p. 542.
  • Raymond Oursel / Henri Stierlin (eds.): Romanesque. In: Architecture of the World. Vol. 15, pp. 164-168.
  • Rolf Toman (ed.): The art of the Romanesque. Architecture - sculpture - painting. Cologne 1996, p. 184.

Web links

Commons : Castell de Cardona  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 52 "  N , 1 ° 41 ′ 9"  E