Castillo de Montealegre-Montealegre de Campos-Valladolid-Spain - Castles on Waymarking.com

The castle of Montealegre de Campos, is located in the town of the same name, peeking over the gentle hills of the Torozos Mountains, dominates the extensive landscape, at its feet, of the so-called Tierra de Campos. On a flange of the Torozos moorland, the castle stands on the highest point of a hill strategically dominating the territory. The first mentions date from 967; In 1219 the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem granted jurisdiction to the town and 6 years later Sancho IV gave it to Don Alfonso de Meneses. Throughout history it has changed owners: it belonged to the Merindad de Campos, it was the manor of Juan Alonso de Alburquerque and manor of the Guzman, whose shield still presides over the entrance.
The construction of the castle, in the first years of the fourteenth century, is framed in the context of disputes between the kingdoms of Leon and Castile.
It is one of the most impressive medieval fortifications in the province, its particular physiognomy served as a model for other later buildings.
It was built to defend the territorial properties of the Meneses family, given the dynastic problems and stately clashes of the thirteenth century. Under the protection of Mrs. María de Molina, the Meneses build a solid fortress on which it already existed that, integrated in the border line with the Leon kingdom, it would become a bulwark of the kingdom of Castile. It maintains its defensive character until the Catholic Monarchs unify the kingdoms.
Its plant, almost square, is articulated around a courtyard, whose corners are 4 towers, three rectangular and a slender tower of the pentagonal tribute that is oriented towards the plain along its almost 20 meters high; Through a pointed arch, you can access a covered room with barrel vaults that rest on pointed arches that discharge into a central pillar. In the middle of each wall canvas there is a cylindrical cube. According to the chronicles, it had barriers before its walls and a drawbridge that saved the existing pit before the main door.
The castle served as a refuge for the Comuneros and ended up, like many others, being cereal silo; Today the ownership is assigned to the town hall. It is partially restored and its interior, which houses a Medieval Interpretation Center, can be visited between April and September.
As anecdotal data the castle was used as a backdrop in the movie "El Cid", starring Charlton Heston.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   03/12/2023 GURUGU visited it