Castillo de La Calahorra
The Castillo de La Calahorra is a castle in La Calahorra , a municipality in the province of Granada in the autonomous region of Andalusia ( Spain ). The castle, which was built in the 16th century and is located on a hill 60 m higher than the village and 1,310 meters above sea level, has been a protected architectural monument ( Bien de Interés Cultural ) since 1922 .
History and description
The palace castle made of ashlar masonry from a regional quarry was built in a remarkably short time from 1509 to 1512. Inside, a palace was designed based on the style of the Renaissance , which was recorded very early for Spain, which is why the Castillo de La Calahorra is of great importance as a remarkable Spanish monument. The builder was the Marquis Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza, called Don Rodrigo de Mendoza, an illegitimate son of Cardinal Mendoza . From his travels to Italy from 1506 to 1508, the client brought building plans and a building drawing for the inner courtyard as well as drafts for sculptures to furnish his building project. He demanded that the architect Lorenzo Vázquez, who was commissioned with the construction management, strictly adhere to the Italian designs. This led to a rift between him and the Marquis of Cenete, one of the titles of Don Rodrigo de Mendoza, whereupon the latter commissioned architect Michele Carlone from Rovio to carry out further construction according to the Italian plans.
The floor plan of the castle is rectangular with the external dimensions 46 × 32 meters and a square inner courtyard of 20 × 20 meters. The corners of the wall are designed as round towers with diameters of 10 and 13 meters. The main axis of the structure runs in a north-south direction; the western flank was reinforced for defense reasons. The outer walls have loopholes for guns and bay towers . During the time of the Moorish attacks from 1568 to 1571, the Castillo withstood the attacks and offered refuge to some residents of La Calahorra, while others fled from the insurgents, which was also noticeable afterwards in the declining population of the place.
literature
- Reinhart Wolf . With texts by Cees Nooteboom : Castillos, castles in Spain . Schirmer / Mosel Verlag , Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8296-0026-7
Web links
- Castillo de La Calahorra near granadapedia
- Castillo de La Calahorra on YouTube (five parts)
Individual evidence
- ^ Laura Damiani Cabrini: Carlone [Carloni], Michele. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Coordinates: 37 ° 11 ′ 0.4 ″ N , 3 ° 3 ′ 55.8 ″ W.