Monturque Castle, Monturque, Spain

When Monturque Castle was exactly built is unknown. Archaeological findings suggests it was built during the reign of the Ummayad Caliphate (661–750 AD) on Roman remains.

The Castle was conquered by Ferninand III in 1240, and for a long time thereafter its ownership passed intermittently between the Crown and Nobility. One early record of this is from 1273, when half of the Monturque tower was awarded by Martin Sanchez to his grandson, Lope.

The well-preserved tower, Torre del Homenaje, stands in the center of the Patio de Armas. A sober and simple structure, this tower was the best equipped of the castle to house its guests, who would probably only spend short stays here, as it does not show signs of having been adapted for permanent accommodation. The castle and tower are located on Calle de Rafael de Lara.

References:

andalucia.com

User Reviews

Gema Gemap (18 months ago)
Me ha encantado. Lourdes una magnífica guía que ama su trabajo

Darpi pino (18 months ago)
Lourdes es maja simpática y graciosa esta muy bien 10 l la guía

José Val San (18 months ago)
Una de las construcciones romanas mejor conservadas destinadas a almacenar agua. Sus doce aljibes almacenaban hasta 850.000 litros de agua.

Antonio Mejias (2 years ago)
Excelente visita a estas cisternas romanas que el ayuntamiento de Monturque ha puesto en valor

i R (4 years ago)
Being the largest easily accessible Roman cisterns these are not so well known and famous among foreign tourists. As I've been told by the cutest guide in whole Andalusia, we were only second non-spanish speaking visitors (it is probably sad, but I don't know if cisterns would benefit from higher number of visitors).

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Martin M. Miles

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Lanfranc, before being an Archbishop of Canterbury, was abbot of Saint-Etienne. Built in Caen stone during the 11th century, the two semi-completed churches stood for many decades in competition. An important feature added to both churches in about 1120 was the ribbed vault, used for the first time in France. The two abbey churches are considered forerunners of the Gothic architecture. The original Romanesque apse was replaced in 1166 by an early Gothic chevet, complete with rosette windows and flying buttresses. Nine towers and spires were added in the 13th century. The interior vaulting shows a similar progression, beginning with early sexpartite vaulting (using circular ribs) in the nave and progressing to quadipartite vaults (using pointed ribs) in the sanctuary.

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