Lopera Castle is a big castle in the city center made up of irregular masonry. It has an irregular pentagonal base. The castle is defended by five towers, some of the towers are cylindrical and some others are prismatic. It has machicolated balconies, a defensive device to better guard entrances and some of the fortified towers.
There were Romans and Visigoth settlements until Lopera was conquered by the Muslims at the beginning of the 8th century. During the 9th and 10th centuries, the population moved to the current town where a small Muslim farmstead was created. During the 11th century, the farmstead was fortified as a defence against Castilian attacks.
Once Lopera was conquered by the Christians, King Ferdinand III relinquished it to the Order of Calatrava. The Order of Calatrava built the castle that exists today. This castle guaranteed an escape to river Guadalquivir.
In 1856, the castle was acquired by Alonso Valenzuela who turned it into public property.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.