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:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.