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List of castles in Spain

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Dating back to the early 12th century, the Alcázar of Segovia is one of the most distinctive medieval castles in Europe. Disney was inspired by this site in building Cinderella's castle.

The castles in Spain were built mainly for the country's defense, particularly with respect to fortification. 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. Sporadic threats of war maintained their initial military purposes as 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. 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 thus castles began taking on a more aesthetic purpose. 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 the castles in Spain were successively abandoned and dismantled, Spanish kings fearing noble and peasant revolts, especially in the newly conquered lands. Accordingly, some 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.

Alcazaba of Almería
Battery of Guardias Viejas
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
Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos
The Alhambra of Granada.
Castle of La Calahorra
Castle of la Yedra
Castle of Santa Catalina
Castle of Mata Bejid
Alcazaba of Málaga.
Gibralfaro Castle, Málaga.
Alcazaba of Antequera
Alcázar of Seville
Torre del Oro
Castle of Loarre
Citadel of Jaca
Castle of Peracense
Castle of Aljafería
Castle of Las Caldas
Castle of Tudela
Torreón of Llanes
Castle of Butrón
Castle of Empress Eugénie de Montijo
Castle of Bellver
Castle of Cabrera
Castle of Argüeso
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
Castle of Gormaz, Soria
Castle of La Mota
Castle of Peñafiel, view from Plaza del Coso
Portillo Castle
Castle of Torrelobatón
Simancas Castle
Walls of Urueña, a medieval town
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
Castle of Cardona
Castle charterhouse of Vallparadís
Castle of Granera
Tower Vermella
Castle of Castellet
Vila Vella enceinte
Castle of Peralada
Castle of Gardeny
Castle of Sant Marçal
Castle of les Sitges
Castle of Ratera
Castle of Coria.
Castle of Trujillo
Castle Palace of the Counts of Oropesa
Tower of Bujaco
Castle of Olivença
Castle of Zafra (Badajoz)
Castle of Alburquerque (Badajoz)
Alcazaba of Badajoz (Badajoz)
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
Castle of Buitrago del Lozoya
Castle of Manzanares el Real
Atalaya de Torrelodones
Lorca Castle
Castle of Xabier
Castle of Davalillo
Atalaya Castle, Villena
Castle of Biar
Castle of Petrer
Castle of Santa Bàrbara
Palace of Altamira
Castle of Morella
Castle of Castellnovo
Castle of Onda
Castle of Peñíscola
Castle of Peñíscola
Castle of Marinyén
Xativa Castle
Towers of Quart
Castle of Ayora
Towers of Serrano in 1870
Castle of Montesa

Number of fortifications by provinces

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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[4]

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

  • Andalusia: Councils of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía[5]
Province Total of fortifications Castles and similars Towers, watchtowers and bunkers Walls and castros Others
Jaén 237[6] 97[7] 126[8] 14[9] 1
Almería 126[10] 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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  1. ^ Historia (October 22, 2015). "Apéndice I. Los lugares del Temple". In Martínez, Gemma; Mínguez, Nines (eds.). Templarios. Del origen de las cruzadas al final de la Orden del Temple (1st ed.). Madrid: Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, S. A. U. p. 417. ISBN 9788401015731.
  2. ^ "Castillo de Corbera" (in Spanish). Castell de Cullera. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  3. ^ "El Castillo" (in Spanish). Castillos de Espana. Archived from the original on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  4. ^ According to Ibercastillos: Fortifications of Spain and Castillosnet: Castles of Spain Archived 2014-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Guia Digital IAPH".
  6. ^ for Jaén — Council of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía for Cultural Heritage#Total Fortifications
  7. ^ Jaén — Council of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía for Cultural Heritage#Castles
  8. ^ Jaén — Council of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía for Cultural Heritage#Towers, watchtowers and bunkers[dead link]
  9. ^ Jaén — Council of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía for Cultural Heritage#Walls and Castros[dead link]
  10. ^ Almería — Council of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía for Cultural Heritage#Total Fortifications
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