List of castles in Spain

"Castles in Spain" redirects here. For the film, see Castles in Spain (film).

Castles in Spain were built mainly for defensive purposes. During the Middle Ages, northern Christian kingdoms had to secure their borders with their Muslim southern neighbours, thus forcing both Christian and Muslim kings to grant border fiefs to their liege noblemen so as to keep and maintain defensive fortresses. When the Reconquista advanced, those border castles lost their initial purpose, and, as in the rest of medieval Europe, they were used as noble residences and fief-keeps. However, due to sporadic threats of war, they kept their military purposes, for enemy invasions were common. In some locations, such as the Basque country, fiefdoms did not exist as such, and noble families could not afford nor did they need huge fortresses, giving rise to many tower houses. On the other hand, in Muslim Spain many castle-palaces were built: the petty taifa kingdoms that arose after the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba were militarily weak but culturally rich, and every emir or king liked magnificent palaces, of which the Alhambra of Granada is an example. During the late Middle Ages, Christian kingdoms had secured and enriched themselves well enough to support a more courtly lifestyle, so more residential castles were built, such as the Alcázar of Segovia, which was used as the main residence of the kings of Castile, whereas the Castle of Olite, built in a luxurious gothic style, was the seat of the Kingdom of Navarre's royal court.

After the Conquest of Granada in 1492, the Catholic monarchs ordered all the castles in their realms to be handed over to the Crown. Although the order was not completely carried out, the War of the Germanias, a rebellion against king Charles V in the early 16th century, forced the new Spanish Habsburg dynasty to continue the process, and many castles were demolished as well. Most of castles in Spain were successively abandoned and dismantled, Spanish kings fearing noble and peasant revolts, especially in the newly conquered lands. Accordingly, most of them are nowadays in a state of decay, and although some restoration work has been done, the number of former castles is so large that the Spanish government lacks both the resources and the will to restore them all.

Nowadays in Spain there are around 2500 castles corresponding only to this kind of fortification.

This is a list of castles in Spain.

Aragón

Huesca

Castle of Loarre
Citadel of Jaca

Teruel

Castle of Peracens

Zaragoza

Castle of Aljafería

Andalucía

Almería

Alcazaba of Almería
Battery of Guardias Viejas

Cádiz

Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera
Castle of Aznalmara
Castle of Santa Catalina (Cádiz)
Castle of Sancti Petri
Castle of San Marcos
Castle of Santiago
Castle of Doña Blanca

Córdoba

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos

Granada

The Alhambra of Granada.
Castle of La Calahorra

Huelva

Jaén

Castle of la Yedra
Castle of Santa Catalina
Castle of Mata Bejid

Málaga

Alcazaba of Málaga.
Gibralfaro Castle, Málaga.
Alcazaba of Antequera

Sevilla

Alcázar of Seville
Torre del Oro

Principality of Asturias

Castle of Las Caldas
Castle of Tudela
Torreón of Llanes

Basque Country

Araba

Gipuzkoa

Castle of Butrón
Castle of Empress Eugénie de Montijo

Biscay

Balearic Islands

Castle of Bellver
Castle of Cabrera

Canary Islands

Cantabria

Castle of Argüeso

Castile and León

Castle of Don Álvaro de Luna
Castle of Burgos
Castle of Olmillos de Sasamón
Castle of Valencia de Don Juan
Templar Castle of Ponferrada
Castle of Ampudia
Real Fuerte de la Concepción
Alcázar of Segovia
Castle of Coca
Castle of Cuéllar
Castle of Almenar
Castle of Montuenga
Castle of Ucero
Castle of the Counts of Benavente
Castle of Castrotorafe
Castle of Zamora

Ávila

Burgos

Leon

Palencia

Salamanca

Segovia

Soria

Valladolid

Simancas Castle
Montealegre de Campos Castle
Walls of Urueña, a medieval town

Zamora

Castile-La Mancha

Castle of Chinchilla de Montearagón
Castle of Almansa.
Castle of Calatrava la Vieja
Castle-Convent of Calatrava la Nueva
Castle of Peñarroya
Castle of Alarcón
Castle of Belmonte
Castle of Garcimuñoz
Castle of Anguix
Castle of Atienza
Alcázar Real of Guadalajara
Castle of the Cid
Castle of Molina de Aragón
Castle of Pioz
Castle of Sigüenza
Castle of Torija
Alcázar of Toledo
Castle of Guadamur
Castle of Oropesa
Castle of Malpica de Tajo
Castle of la Vela

Albacete

Ciudad Real

Cuenca

Guadalajara

Toledo

Catalonia

Barcelona

Castle of Cardona
Castle charterhouse of Vallparadís
Castle of Granera
Tower Vermella

Tarragona

Castle of Castellet

Girona

Vila Vella enceinte
Castle of Peralada

Lleida

Castle of Gardeny
Castle of Sant Marçal
Castle of les Sitges
Castle of Ratera

Extremadura

Cáceres

Castle of Coria.
Castle of Trujillo
Castle Palace of the Counts of Oropesa
Tower of Bujaco

Badajoz

Castle of Olivença
Castle of Zafra (Badajoz)

Galicia

Castle da Rocha Forte
Castle of Vimianzo
Towers of Altamira
Castle do Castrodouro, keep.
Castle of Pambre
Tower of the Castle dos Andrade
Castle of Vilamarín
Tower of Vilanova dos Infantes
Castle of Monterreal
Castle of Soutomaior
Castle of Monterreal in Baiona

A Coruña

Lugo

Ourense

Pontevedra

Community of Madrid

Castle of Buitrago del Lozoya
Castle of Manzanares el Real
Atalaya de Torrelodones

Region of Murcia

Castle of Xabier

La Rioja

Castle of Davalillo

Valencian Community

Alicante

Castle of Biar
Castle of Petrer
Castle of Santa Bàrbara
Castle of la Atalaya, of Villena
Palace of Altamira

Castellón

Castle of Morella
Castle of Castellnovo
Castle of Onda
Castle of Peñíscola
Castle of Peñíscola
Castle of Villafamés

Valencia

Castle of Marinyén
Castle of Xàtiva
Towers of Quart
Castle of Ayora
Towers of Serrano in 1870
Castle of Montesa

Number of fortifications by provinces

In the following table, are related the various Spanish provinces, ordered according to the number of existing fortifications, both castles themselves as towers, watchtowers, bunkers, walls and castros[3]

It attached the references to some of the relevant statements of Cultural Assets of the different Councils of Culture of the Autonomous Communities:

Province Total of fortifications Castles and similars Towers, watchtowers and bunkers Walls and castros Others
Jaén 237[4] 97[5] 126[6] 14[7] 1
Almería 126[8] 81 54 54 14
Guadalajara 198 124 27 44 3
Cuenca 175 100 30 32 13
Cádiz 161 37 71 31 1
Soria 121 49 41 24 7
Zaragoza 105 82 9 10 4
Barcelona 104 97 0 0 7
Navarra 95 61 8 15 11
Teruel 95 56 12 16 11
Burgos 91 44 28 16 3
Cáceres 84 67 3 11 3
Biscay 78 4 65 6 3
Alicante 73 45 20 7 1
Huesca 70 59 4 6 1
Toledo 70 46 7 12 5
Lleida 68 52 10 6 0
Madrid 67 30 18 15 4
Valencia 63 37 11 13 2
Badajoz 62 48 2 11 1
Murcia 58 43 7 7 1
Castellón 58 30 11 14 3
Albacete 52 34 6 11 1
Valladolid 50 35 2 12 1
Tarragona 48 46 1 1 0
La Rioja 48 27 11 8 2
León 47 30 7 10 0
Álava 45 6 31 8 0
Salamanca 41 24 7 10 0
Ciudad Real 36 27 4 4 1
Girona 35 22 2 10 1
Segovia 32 15 5 10 2
Ávila 29 21 1 6 1
Balearic Islands 28 12 15 1 0
Cantabria 28 8 14 6 0
Lugo 26 25 0 1 0
Palencia 25 18 4 3 0
Zamora 25 13 1 9 2
Asturias 24 7 10 7 0
Santa Cruz de Tenerife 24 10 8 1 0
Ourense 18 15 0 2 1
A Coruña 14 14 0 0 0
Las Palmas 12 8 3 1 0
Ceuta 11 2 6 2 1
Pontevedra 10 9 1 0 0
Melilla 9 5 0 4 0
Gipuzkoa 5 3 1 1 0

References

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