Spain · 13th century
Castell de Penella lies some 7 km from Cocentaina (province of Alicante, Spain). It was built in the 13th century, occupying the whole of a limestone crag with vertical walls on its northern face. It takes its name from the district in which it stands.
This is a castle belonging to the world of rural castles or fortified manor houses of the early Christian period. In 1271 King James I granted Ponç Guillem de Villafranca the farmsteads of Peniella and Forminyàn, authorising him to build a castle on the rock of Peniella. It is built of rammed earth and levelled on a masonry base.
Today one can see the keep, square in plan, 4 metres to a side and 12 metres high, its upper part crenellated. Adjoining the tower is a quadrangular building, also crenellated.
Machine-translated from “Castillo de Penella” on the Spanish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castell de Penella ranks #8,520 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #536 of the 607 mapped in Spain. Founded 1271, it is older than 66% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 11 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Alicante, 40 km away. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.
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