Castillo de Alcaudete was built by the Arabs over the remains of a previous Roman fortification and taken by the Christians in 1085 during the reign of Alfonso VI. For almost three hundred years thereafter, the castle kept changing hands until 1340 when the Christians took it over.
The design is polygon in shape, adjusted to the terrain escarpments. The structure is surmounted by six towers, including the Tower of Homage, which has a door on the north side, guarded by two additional towers.
Today it has become a tourism-cultural space which houses the Interpretation Centre on the life of the Military Order of Calatrava. Visitors will go back to the 13th century to discover the construction of a castle on the border with the Nasrid Kingdom, the lifestyle and internal structure of the Order, the military armament used for the assault and defence of a fortress.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.