The Palace of Cienfuegos de Peñalba arises on a hill near Pola de Allande. It was originally built in the 15th century on the site of an ancient fort, but has been refurbished so that the only remaining Gothic elements are on the lowest level.
The original owners were in the Ponce lineage, but it passed to the Counts de Luna and in 1515 to the Cienfuegos family lines. Around 1520 Rodrigo González de Cienfuegos, lord of Allande, undertook renovations to rebuild the property. In the eighteenth century, the property became the residence of the Count of Peñalba who renovated it to suit his tastes.
The Palace has L-shaped plan and is marked by three solid towers, which are not crenellated, adding to the monumental elements of the building and leading to its appearance of strong defenses. Of the three towers, the two oldest are the square ones and the most recent is rectangular. The last one was added as a housing area in the nineteenth century. It contains 23 bedrooms, as well as a hall, kitchen, living room, lounge, and oratory. The rectangular courtyard has little decoration or ornamentation. Without porticoes the first floor has a wooden gallery supported by thick, rough masonry columns. There are also multiple stables.
In 2008 a rehabilitation project was completed which recovered some of the shapes and colors from the 1888 gallery which was added to the main tower at that time.
References:Kakesbeck is one of the largest medieval fortifications in Münsterland and the oldest castle in Lüdinghausen. The imposingly grown complex originated in 1120 as a motte, a small hilltop tower castle. After numerous changes of ownership, the castle was extended onto two islands, but it was not until the 14th century that it underwent significant alterations and extensions under the von Oer family. The estate experienced its heyday in the middle of the 18th century, when it covered an area of almost one square kilometre and consisted of five further outer castles in addition to the core castle, which were secured by ramparts and moats.
The well-maintained condition of the castle today is thanks to the late Wilfried Grewing, the former lord of the castle. The foundation named after him has been particularly committed to preserving the property since 2020.