Spain- the Land of Castles

Just a little Castle History

There are more castles in Spain than in any other European country,  all in all about 10,000 castles were built in Spain.  There are only about 2,000-2500 left because many have been destroyed in battles, or by the Spanish kings to prevent them from being used by dissidents. 

The Spanish have several words for castle: castillo, fortaleza, alcazar, and alcazaba. The word Castilian  as in ¨Castilian Spanish¨ was used to describe the people who lived in the Castile Kingdom and Castile is a word derived from the Latin castella (castle-land) that comes from another Latin term castrum (fortress or castle).

5 days & over 15 castles

Between Thursday afternoon and Monday we saw over 15 castles.  I have included a picture of most of them, but I have also added daily posts with more information and pictures of our favorite castles that we visited.

Las Murallas de Ávila

We have been here before but not with Grandma Bellon and Aunt Merralee.

El Alcazar de Segovia

We have been here too, but not in front of the castle.   This is one of our favorite places we have been so far. 

Castillo de Coca

This was just outside of Segovia.





 Castillo de la Mota

This castle was just before Vallodolid.



Castillo de Peñafiel

Just on the other side of Valladolid.

El Castillo de San Esteban de Gormaz

Just a single lonely wall is left standing. .

 Forteleza de Gormaz in Califal

This was one of our favorites.

????Castle Ruins

Calatayud Castillo Mayor

This is one of two castles in Calatayud, just outside of  Zaragoza.

 

??? Castle ruins and a Cathedral

 

And another ???

 

Castillo Palacio de los Obispos in Sigüenza

   

This is now a hotel.



Jadraque Castillo del Cid



This castle was out in the middle of nowhere.

 Castillo de Torija



We stopped in Torija to see this castle and unlike most other castles it was not on a hill but in the middle of town.  We were impressed with the good shape it was in, but after taking this picture we read on that white info plaque below the flag that it was rebuilt in the 1900´s after being destroyed in the Spanish Civil War. 

 Toledo Castle Walls

There was also a castle here but we weren´t able to get a good picture of it because of all the obstructions.