Castle Map

Castle

Alcalá del Júcar Castle

Spain · 12th century

Founded
c. 1150
Heritage status
bien de interés cultural
Location
Alcalá del Júcar
Coordinates
39.19114°, -1.42988°
Links
OpenStreetMap
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Alcalá del Júcar Castle in Spain
Photo: Quixoteab · CC BY-SA 3.0 es · Wikimedia Commons

Description

The castle of Alcalá del Júcar is of Almohad origin (12th and 13th centuries), located in the town of Alcalá del Júcar, in the province of Albacete, Spain, above the gorge of the Júcar river.

Castle of Almohad origin (12th and 13th centuries). It was, as other castles and lands in this area, occupied by Iberians, Romans, Berbers and Christians.

When Alfonso VIII of Castile conquered this land around the year 1213, the castle was occupied by Christians. Later in time, it belonged to Marquis of Villena.

Its style is Islamic. There are three floors and has a pentagonal fortified tower and two circular little towers. Most of the wall that surrounded the castle have been destroyed over time, but some remains are still visible.

Around the castle there is the popular legend of Princess Zulema and intense and tragic love with the Moor who lived Garadar. One version says that the princess was claimed by Garad Christian, who held the Castle to make him renounce his faith and marry her. To escape his fate, committed suicide by throwing himself Zulema vacuum. The other legend tells of forbidden love of Zulema, this time a Muslim, a Christian gentleman. To escape the wrath of his parents settled in the present location of the nearby village called Zulema.

The castle is open to tourists.

Declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1982, was formerly Alcalá Jucar customs of the Camino Real de Castilla to the East.

In 1986, it received the third prize, after the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Mosque in Istanbul, Best artistic lighting, organized by the Philips home according to the project by José Ángel Lucas Baidez.

In 1994, the project Workshop II School Júcar Alcalá, was conditioned natural environment, improving its input.

The castle is near some other places of touristic interest such as Jorquera and Villa de Ves.

Text adapted from “Alcalá del Júcar Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Alcalá del Júcar Castle ranks #9,482 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #629 of the 646 mapped in Spain. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 810 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. The nearest day-trip guide is Valencia, 96 km away. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.

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