Alange Castle, Alange, Spain

Alange Castle was built by the Arabs in the 9th century on a rocky hill, over the Matachel River, on the banks of the Alange reservoir. This defence fortress is at a strategic point from which access to the Silver Way was controlled. Its inaccessibility makes it a privileged place. It was witness to numerous battles and sieges between Moors and Christians.

The castle was conquered by Christians during Reconquista in the mid-13th century. It was abandoned in 1550. Although the castle was a great fortress, nowadays only three towers and the keep, made of strong brick walls and with numerous windows with horseshoe-shaped arches, remain. Some wells from the Islamic period are also preserved.

References:

turismoextremadura.com

User Reviews

Rainer Lindner (3 years ago)
Wow It is a amasing place to made photos

Mic J (4 years ago)
Worth the climb, which takes only about half an hour, though make sure you wear sturdy shoes. The views are amazing.

Sara Di Lenardo (4 years ago)
Easy enough climb. Great views

Alan Kerley (5 years ago)
Hard climb but worth it fantastic views

John Alonso (8 years ago)
We spotted the castle from the highway and stopped to have a look. We didn't know what to expect, nor did we really know the path to follow. We took a local road to the closest point we could get to (from the town) and parked. We started walking uphill, noticing yellow arrows painted on the ground, rocks and trees ... these arrows turned out to be the suggested path, which is a loop ... The views from the hilltop are amazing, the entire route took us about 1.5 hrs and very well worth it. The path is a little unkept, but very doable for all ages. Once you get past the water tanks, the path goes left or right ... you can go either direction, as it circles around. There is not much left of the castle ... but there is enough to get a nice idea of what it must have been like. We loved this walk and visit.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Klearchos Kapoutsis

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Beckov Castle

The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.

The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.

The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.

The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.

Alange Castle

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