The Knights from the Order of Santiago built the Hornos Castle between the late 13th century and early 14th century. They built iton top of an old Arab defensive structure in a strategic location, on one of the roads between the mountain chains of Cazorla and Segura.
Hornos Castle is made up of a defensive site with an outdoor enclosure in the shape of a trapezoid. We can find a large keep, a well right in the parade ground and remains of three turrets.
The keep is 9 metres tall and it has a square base. It was built using masonry with rounded corners, and this feature makes it less vulnerable to the effects of weapons.
The enclosure was also built in masonry. The Almohads builtthree slim towers with small bases,the towers are reinforced with a lining of masonry. Inside the enclosure we find a well of Arab origin.
These days in the Castle we find the Cosmolarium, an astronomical centre and planetarium where films are shown.
The Muslims founded Hornos fortress in the 9th century, and many of its remains such as the well in the parade ground and the three towers date from the Almohad period.
Don Pedro Pérez Pelayo Correa, grand master of the Order of Santiago, conquered Hornos in 1239. Thus, the town was attached to the Encomienda de Segura de la Sierra (a vast territory that belonged to the Order of Santiago).
During the 15th century, the towns of Hornos and Segura de la Sierra played adecisiverole in the political ambitions of the Manrique family who confrontedKing John II and King Henry IV.
Hornos remained part of the territory ruled by the Order of Santiago during the Modern Era, although between 1507 and 1748 the town belonged to the Kingdom of Murcia.
References:The Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls was part of the federal sanctuary of the three Gauls dedicated to the cult of Rome and Augustus celebrated by the 60 Gallic tribes when they gathered at Lugdunum (Lyon). The amphitheatre was built at the foot of the La Croix-Rousse hill at what was then the confluence of the Rhône and Saône.
Excavations have revealed a basement of three elliptical walls linked by cross-walls and a channel surrounding the oval central arena. The arena was slightly sloped, with the building"s south part supported by a now-vanished vault. The arena"s dimensions are 67,6m by 42m. This phase of the amphitheatre housed games which accompanied the imperial cult, with its low capacity (1,800 seats) being enough for delegations from the 60 Gallic tribes.
The amphitheatre was expanded at the start of the 2nd century. Two galleries were added around the old amphitheatre, raising its width from 25 metres to 105 metres and its capacity to about 20,000 seats. In so doing it made it a building open to the whole population of Lugdunum and its environs.