The construction of the Marmionda Castle dates back to the 12th century, shortly after the beginning of the invasion of Al-Andalus by the Almohads (1147), who ended the Almoravid empire. In 1167, it was conquered by the Christian king of León, Fernando II, who handed it over to the Order of the Temple. Almost thirty years later, in 1196, it was recaptured by the Almohads. In 1213, it was definitively reconquered by Alfonso IX of León, who gave it to the Order of San Julian del Pereiro, later known as the Order of Alcántara.
From Visigothic times to the Middle Ages, there was no better defensive element for the inhabitants of the Alagón Valley than this castle. It was a strategically well-positioned fortress, south of Coria and on the way to Cáceres, with a prior passage through the Tajo River valley. Throughout its history, various reforms took place, with the 16th century being the last of some importance. It was abandoned from the second half of the 17th century.
It is of a square base and consists of the following elements: a pair of circular towers, the keep on the northeast side, and a second tower on the northwest side that was recently reconstructed and restored but whose aesthetics disrupt the overall harmony of the ensemble; large walls (curtains) crowned with crenellations with pyramidal tops; a barbican in front of the wall; an extensive courtyard; and a large cistern.
Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).