Espeluy Castle is located in Jaén, the Municipality that gives it its name, on the Guadalquivir and Guadalimar rivers. Its origin dates back to the Caliphate era, with a Muslim castle existing on this site. Since then it was owned in the year 1224 by Fernando III, leaving the area under the jurisdiction of the Crown, in 1321 a new castle was built and in 1469 it would be taken by the troops of Don Miguel Lucas de Iranzo and at the end of the 18th century, beginning of from the 19th century, it was built as a Christian castle.
The total area of the plot is 4,800m2 of which 3,720m2 are for stables, corrals and common areas and 1,120m2 correspond to the building. The part of the house is made up of two floors: in the upper part composed of seven rooms and seven bathrooms and in the lower part we find a cellar, a large stable, warehouses and a house for the castle guard.
Its most genuine element is its magnificent Tower of Homage, with a square floor plan, inside which two superimposed rooms covered by barrel vaults are preserved. The access door and the wall that surrounds the castle is an addition to the current onesowners. It was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1985.
References:The stone church of Gamla Uppsala, built over the pagan temple, dates from the early 12th century. Due to fire and renovations, the present church is only a remnant of the original cathedral.
Before the arrival of Christianity in Sweden, Gamla Uppsala was the seat of Swedish kings and a ceremonial site known all over northern Europe. The settlement was home to royal palaces, a royal burial ground, and a great pagan temple. The Uppsala temple, which was described in detail by Adam of Bremen in the 1070s, housed wooden statues of the Norse gods Odin, Thor and Freyr. A golden chain hung across its gables and the inside was richly decorated with gold. The temple had priests, who sacrificed to the gods according to the needs of the people.
The first Christian cathedral was probably built in the 11th century, but finished in the 12th century. The stone building may have been preceded by a wooden church and probably by the large pagan temple.