El Castillo de Madroñiz
| El Castillo de Madroñiz | ||
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| Creation time : | 11th or 12th century | |
| Castle type : | Summit castle | |
| Conservation status: | Receive | |
| Geographical location | 38 ° 42 '12 " N , 5 ° 6' 4.1" W | |
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The Castillo de Madroñíz (Eng. Castle of the Strawberry Trees ) rises elongated over a hill on the course of the Río Zújar , in the vicinity of El Viso and Belalcázar . It can be reached from Belalcázar by taking the street de la Estación . After 12 km a path branches off that leads to the Castillo. It crosses the river bed at a low altitude and then climbs at breakneck speed to the fortress.
history
The Castillo was built by the Moors in the 11th or 12th centuries on the foundations of an old Muslim settlement. Although it was originally a military building, it was used more for residential purposes. The castle was very important because of its location on the only road to Toledo . It was part of a network of border fortifications. After the Reconquista, the fortress was made famous by famous men such as Pay Arias de Castro and Martín Fernández de Córdoba , then it belonged to the Casa de Aguilar family , who used a lot of influence to bring life back to their depopulated areas. Later the castle passed into the hands of Gonzalo Mejías , the 7th Lord of Santa Eufemia , with whose history the castle has been connected ever since. Mejías had married an heiress of La Guardia and thereby linked the estates. For centuries the Marquesado de La Guardia owned the castle and an agreement was even reached that the castle with the Ayuntamiento de Cabeza del Buey administrative unit and the lands adjacent to the castle should belong to Córdoba instead of Badajoz.
architecture
In the walled area there is a hollow tower and another fortress tower. Both have a cylindrical floor plan. In the first courtyard there are various gates that lead into the old stables. Today they have been converted into a medieval-style dining room. The ceiling of this large hall is formed by a stone vault. The residential tower (el aljibe) is located in the second courtyard. The torre del Homenaje has several floors.
One of the rooms on the first floor has a veranda with a column and a stone bench. On the walls and ceiling are four shields of the Señores de Santa Eufemia , and a Dintel de ataurique (door arch) reveals Toledan influence.
State of preservation and monument protection
A previous owner, Carlos Montijano Carbonell , secured the fortification of the walls and made the complex habitable. Today it is only inhabited by the Fraga family on a monthly basis. The Asociación Amigos de los Castillos has awarded the castle for its state of preservation.
In 1993 the Junta de Andalucía included the castle in the Patrimonio Histórico Español (Law 16/1985, No. CO-CAS-016).
Web links
- Information from a Spanish homepage about castles.
- photos
- Picture of a model on the blog of the municipality of El Viso.