Spain · 12th century
The Castle of Xio, Castle of Chío or Castell de Xiu in Valencian, is an Arab military defensive structure located in the municipality of Llutxent (Valencia), Spain. It was built in the 12th century, during the Almohad period.
The fortress served to watch over the movement of troops from the coast to the interior of the Kingdom of Valencia. Today the most visible part is the cistern that supplied water to its inhabitants. After the Christian reconquest in the 13th century, it lost its defensive function and was abandoned over the course of time.
The castle lies on the itinerary of the Ruta de los Monasterios de Valencia, a monumental route inaugurated in 2008, which passes through this castle on the way to the nearby Monastery of Corpus Christi in Llutxent.
Machine-translated from “Castillo de Xio” on the Spanish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castle of Chio ranks #8,517 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #535 of the 607 mapped in Spain. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 14 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Valencia, 57 km away. See how Spain compares in the castle statistics.
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