Alcalá de Guadaíra Castle

Alcalá de Guadaíra, Spain

Alcalá de Guadaíra Castle is the result of almost 4,500 years of human history. The older archaeological findings take us to the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BCE), when a small walled village settled down on the East edge of the Hill.

The current castle was built during the times of Muslim domination, in the 11th and 12th centuries, although after the Reconquest by Ferdinand III is when it acquired its definitive layout. Important development was still taking place right up to the late 15th and early 16th century.

Today the castle is restored after been abandoned a long time since the 19th century.

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 11th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Spain

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

mark briars (2 years ago)
Fabulous Alcazaba oozing history
Mic (3 years ago)
Great view over the town, sadly quite a lot of rubbish around the walls
Kira Browne (3 years ago)
I loved this castle! Always nice to climb to a high point to see views over a new town, and this is great for that - you can see the bridge with the dragon, and the white houses of the town. It's free to enter, and I was the only person there most of the time (I visited on a Thursday morning). While it might not be to everyone's taste, as there are no information boards to explain anything, and it's not super clean (no human rubbish, but animals dropping etc), I loved the fact that it almost felt like I had just come across the ruins and were exploring them myself! There are some built walkways and steps, but also plenty of parts where you can just walk along old walls, or steps which are half broken away which you can scramble up to get to the top of a tower. There are also no handrails or barriers, with walkways just having a drop to one side, so many parts are not suitable if you don't like heights or are less mobile, and kids would need to be closely supervised. It's quite spacious, and definitely worth visiting even if you don't want to climb all around, as it's free to enter and I can't imagine there's ever a queue.
Mateo Lott (4 years ago)
Good place to visit
Francisco Ramos (4 years ago)
Quite interesting ruins. Unfortunately not well preserved
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

The Church of the Holy Cross

The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).

The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.

The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.

The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.