Canena Castle is a Renaissance building from the 16th century, designed by the Spanish Renaissance architect Andrés de Vandelvira (1509-c. 1575). It belonged to Francisco de los Cobos, private secretary to Charles I and a great patron of the Renaissance in Úbeda and the surrounding area.
The building we see today dates from the 17th century. It adopts an almost square ground plan delimited by two large towers at the ends of the main façade and two smaller and apparently incomplete towers on the rear façade, all them circular. One of the most imposing features is the square keep, which used to be surrounded by a moat, now filled in, and accessed by a drawbridge.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.