Montuenga Castle, Montuenga de Soria, Spain

Montuenga Castle in Soria, Spain forms part of the defensive line of the Jalón River set in a natural passage between the plateau and strategic basin of the Ebro. The area was subject to disputes, notable during the Castilian Civil War.

The castle is perched on a high hill, steep and long, from which it dominates the town of Montuenga de Soria. The remains of the building, two polygonal towers at each end, are joined by walls.

References:

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User Reviews

Pedro Carchenilla (17 months ago)
La verdad que impresiona verlo de cerca ya que está en lo alto de un risco y el pueblo de Montuenga está a sus pies que es desde donde lo miras. Ves un castillo medieval construido con unos muros de tres metros de grosor medio derruido, con dos torres a los lados y tan arriba pues la verdad que te sientes muy pequeño. Se puede ver desde la autovía A-2 a 3 kilómetros de Montuenga. Se puede entrar y el pueblo es muy tranquilo y caluroso en verano.

DIGNA HERRERA (17 months ago)
Muy bonito de verdad mela pase muy bien en este lugar

Raul Pereira Quintana (17 months ago)
Un castillo roquero con unas inmejorables vistas del valle del Jalón. además Montuenga merece su propia visita. un pueblo lleno de encanto con casas de adobe gran frontón y gente muy hospitalaria. Mención aparte de su teleclub cuándo puedo tomar unas buenas cervezas.

Javier Hernando (17 months ago)
Apenas 3 paredes de lo que fuera un castillo, de facil acceso desde el que ver una bonita vista del pueblo, Montuenga de Soria.

Aziro Casamayor (18 months ago)
Muy derruido pero con ese algo que cautiva Lo que queda son cuatro muros exteriores que hacen muy difícil imaginar cómo era en su esplendor, pero si lo sumas al pueblo tan bonito, con ese estilo tan rural de antaño , con las casas construidas en adobe, lo hace un sitio precioso

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The St Sophia's Cathedral was built between 1045-1050 inside the Novgorod Kremlin (fortress). It is one of the earliest stone structures of northern Russia. Its height is 38 m. Originally it was taller, for during the past nine centuries the lower part of the building became concealed by the two-metre thick cultural layer. The cathedral was built by Prince Vladimir, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, and until the 1130s this principal church of the city also served as the sepulchre of Novgorodian princes. For the Novgorodians, St Sophia became synonymous with their town, the symbol of civic power and independence.

The five-domed church looks simpler but no less impressive than its prototype, the thirteen-domed St Sophia of Kiev. The cathedral exterior is striking in its majesty and epic splendour evoking the memories of Novgorod's glorious past and invincible might. In the 11th century it looked more imposing than now. Its facade represented a gigantic mosaic of huge, coarsely trimmed irregular slabs of flagstone and shell rock. In some places (particularly on the apses), the wall was covered with mortar, smoothly polished, drawn up to imitate courses of brick or of whitestone slabs, and slightly coloured. As a result, the facade was not white, as it is today, but multicoloured. The play of stone, decorative painting and the building materials of various texture enhanced the impression of austere simplicity and introduced a picturesque effect.

The two-storied galleries extend along the building's southern, western and northern sides, with a stair-tower constructed at the north-eastern corner. The cathedral has three entrances - the southern, western and northern, of which the western was the main one intended for ceremonial processions. A gate standing at the entrance is known as the Sigtuna Gate (mid-12th century); according to legend, it was brought from the Swedish town of Sigtuna in 1187. The second name of the gate derives from the town of Magdeburg, where it was made. The two leaves are decorated with biblical and evangelical scenes in cast bronze relief. In the lower left corner there are portraits of the craftsmen who created this superb specimen of medieval Western European bronze-work. An inscription in Latin gives their names, Riquin and Weissmut. The small central figure - judging from an inscription in Slavonic - is a representation of the Russian master craftsman Avraam, who assembled the gate.

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The interior of the cathedral is as majestic as its exterior. It is divided by huge piers into five aisles, three of which end in altar apses. In the south-western corner, inside the tower, there is a wide spiral in relatively small, modest buildings of the 12th - 16th centuries.

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