In Spain there are 2,500 castles. They are something very common. What is not normal is to find a castle like those in the German region of the Black Forest near Bilbao or like Cinderella’s in the province of Segovia. Excessive restorations and appearances in films and series such as Game of Thrones have turned these enclaves with centuries of history into extraordinary sites, the target of bloggers and sometimes also destinations for lovers of the paranormal.
Eugenia de Montijo, who in addition to being Empress of France was Lady of Arteaga, ordered the rebuilding of the tower that her ancestors had near the town of Gernika. And it was Couvrechet, the French architect of the Imperial Sites, who designed in 1856 a fantasy castle in the neo-Gothic style, which was nothing like what had come before, but was much finer, with a French air, ideal for an empress. And let alone to set up a small hotel like the one that opened in 2003. The Castillo de Arteaga is the first and only Relais & Chateaux in the Basque Country and the most romantic hotel within a hundred kilometers.
Also located in Bizkaia, the Butron castle is from the same period and style. It hides in a forest about 18 kilometers north of the city of Bilbao, halfway between Sopelana and Munguia. It was also a medieval tower-house and was also renovated in the 19th century with many crenellated turrets and slate spiers, just like the ones made by Ludwig II of Bavaria, the Mad King. But its owner, the Marquis de Cubas, did it purely for fun, this was not a place to live: in the towers you barely fit and some rooms are reached by outdoor walkways and stairs. For a time it was possible to visit. Now it can only be seen from the outside. But its mere sight transports the observer to the Middle Ages.
Alcázar of Segovia
It reminded Josep Pla of a cake: “The restorations give the castle the appearance of a confectionery work.” Of course, from the 12th century, which is when the alcacar of Segovia is mentioned for the first time, it does not appear. Be that as it may, this fairytale castle, bristling with turrets with pointed spires, is one of those that inspired Cinderella’s at Disney World in Florida. You can visit 11 rooms: among them the oldest, that of the Old Palace, with its mullioned windows from the 12th century, and the most important, that of the Kings, where the Cortes met under the gaze of all the sculpted monarchs. on the frieze, from don Pelayo to Juana la Loca. In addition, you can ascend to the tower of Juan II, 152 steps that end at 80 meters high. Cinderella’s castle is only 57.
Almodovar del Rio (Cordoba)
This marvelous fortress of Arab origin was built around the year 740. So, it has been watching over a curve of the Guadalquivir river for 1,300 years from a hill 252 meters high, about 25 kilometers from Cordoba. But it’s like new. And this thanks to Rafael Desmaissieres y Farina, 12th Count of Torralva, and his friend the architect Adolfo Fernandez Casanova, who restored it in depth between 1901 and 1936. Perhaps they went too far… But they went for the great comfort of those who Camelot (1967), Boabdil el Chico, el ultimo rey moro (1968), Dardanelo s (1970) and ten other films, series and commercials were filmed here , which did not have to retouch anything on the stage. In the seventh season of Game of Thrones,Almodovar’s castle was Altojardin. There is a specific itinerary for fans of the hit HBO series. And in the Round Tower, costumes and armor of the same are exhibited.
Riba de Santiuste and Zafra (Guadalajara)
For rare, rare, the castle of Riba de Santiuste, near Siguenza. It is planted on the crest of a hill full of folds and fractures, layers of red and yellow sandstone, salt crystals and ripples, the waves drawn by the tide on a beach millions of years ago. It has been a meeting place for members of New Acropolis, an international non-profit organization with no clear purpose. And she has a ghost, a certain Manuela, to whom the presenter Iker Jimenez dedicated a report on the Cuarto Milenio program.
Another castle in the province of Guadalajara that makes your hair stand on end is that of Zafra. In the high and desolate moorland of Molina de Aragon, six kilometers from Campillo de Duenas, we discover this red fortress that balances on a sharp penalty of the same color. It’s like finding a castle on Mars. Or it was, because since it appeared in the sixth season of Game of Thrones, like the Tower of Joy, it appears every now and then on a blog and there are always onlookers around.
Royal Palace of Olite (Navarre)
In August 2011, a Belgian mayoress who was on vacation in Spain was surprised by a video amateur making love with her boyfriend in one of the towers of the Royal Palace of Olite. The truth is that this castle, built at the beginning of the 15th century, is made to play hide-and-seek, to get lost and find yourself with short breaths and a mischievous smile on your lips. It is clear that it was not conceived to wage war, an activity in which Carlos III the Noble never shone: his thing was art, luxury and having children, no less than 13. It is a romantic castle-palace, Gothic in style but romantic, full of galleries, windows of exquisite tracery, hanging gardens and very high and tiny turrets, from which the king and queen, Dona Leonor de Trastamara, watched the tournaments, or so they said. Next to the New Palace, which is the part of the castle that is visited, is the Old Palace, which is the oldest (from the 13th century, with Roman foundations) and the one that occupies the Parador de Olite. It is a hotel with mystery, with a ghost: a skeleton that appears, like the faces of Belmez, in the painting of the Prince of Viana that presides over the room.
Cardona (Barcelona)
Another castle that is a hotel and houses a ghost is the Parador de Cardona. There have been days when all the furniture in room 712 woke up together in the center of the room, to the astonishment of the cleaning service. Perhaps it was Abdala, the Berber prince who saw how his beloved, the daughter of the Duke of Cardona, withered and died locked up by her father in the Minyona tower, and who has wandered the castle at night ever since. Perched for 1,100 years on a promontory overlooking the Cardener River plain and the famous Montana de Sal, the Parador today is an imposing dark rock fortress. Not sleeping in it, just looking at it, it’s scary. Besides all the views of the world and a room with a goblin,There is a church from the 11th century, the collegiate church of San Vicente, which is a jewel of Catalan Lombard Romanesque.
