Baena Castle

Baena, Spain

The first documents of Baena Castle date at the beginning of the 9th century (890), during the reign of Emir Ahdullah, whose Governor in Regio since 889 had been Omar Ben Hafsum who rebelled and took Baena in 891.

In 1228, the governor of Fernando III in Baeza attacked the castle, belonging then to Seville. Subsequently the castle was attacked by Mohamed, the king of Granada, 1297. In July 1320 a peace treaty was signed in this castle between the Alonso XI and Ismail, King of Granada, which guaranteed this peace for eight years. In 1332, this same Alfonso XI garrisoned the castle in the face of danger from Granada, and in 1341 he left Baena to attack the Nasrid kingdom, not before providing the fortress with men and materials. In 1362 Abu Said, King of Granada, the Bermejo, took refuge in Baena and was accompanied to Seville by people from Cordoba.

In 1401 the castle was ceded by Henry III to the Marshal, Don Diego Fernández de Córdoba, with the opposition of the inhabitants of the city, taking possession of it in 1438.

Since the 16th century it has been used as the Palacio de los Duques. Diego Fernández de Córdoba, III Conde de Cabra, established his residence in the castle at the beginning of the 16th century and gave it a more palatial character. In 1520 the Baena and Condado de Cabra estate became related by marriage to the Duchy of Sessa. En 1566, by a Royal Decree of Philip II, Baena became the Duchy of Baena whereupon the lords of Baena came to be the Dukes of Sessa and Baena. It is from that time when there began to be a succession of structural changes in the fortified enclosure aimed at making the place suitable as a residence, and the military character of the complex faded into the background.

Baena Castle is square and still has part of its original walls and three of the four towers located in those of: El Secreto, Los Cascabeles and the last one of the Cinco Esquinas or Las Arqueras.

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Details

Founded: 9th century AD
Category: Castles and fortifications in Spain

More Information

www.andalucia.org

Rating

3.8/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

J (2 years ago)
Very nice but the restoration of part of the Castle is too new, it loses its charm
inmaculada porras marquez (2 years ago)
Bad organization on the part of the tourism area of ​​the municipality of Baena, I warned in advance that today I had a group of 50 people... The councilor for tourism and the girl who works in the tourist office had not informed the different sites that we had visited that we were a large group and when we arrived at the castle it was closed and we had to wait more than half an hour for them to open. I am the owner of the company that manages the Ducal castle of Espejo and although I have established visiting hours if they notify me in time (as I warned in Baena). If a large group arrives outside of my visiting hours, I open the doors. But here the difference is that I am a private company and I make a living from this... Since this is public and everyone gets their fixed salary per month, go 1 person or 1,000. They don't care, what I said. Every monument managed by the public administration is poorly managed
Javier Vacas (2 years ago)
A historical place of great importance. Not very well prepared for the visit.
Zeta Paco (5 years ago)
Una gran pena al arreglar algo historico con materiales modernos, una gran pena
aurea del toboso (5 years ago)
Cuesta 2€ la entrada. El castillo da la sensación de que le hicieron la restauración y ahí se ha quedado. No hay ningún cartel ni folleto informativo acerca de su historia, vestigios, y obra de remodelación. El patio no tiene mantenimiento. Muchas hierbas sin cortar... La chica de la entrada simpática pero carece de información acerca de la historia del mismo. No hay ninguna sala con una proyección. O maqueta acerca de cómo era, historia sobre los depósitos de agua que tanto impresionan....Hay una sala con unos cuadros de fotografías antiguas que se apoyan sobre sillas en vez de estar colgados!!! No sé, da pena.
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