The castle-palace of Belalcázar is one of the most representative of the 15th century, when the nobility attempted to demonstrate its social and economic status.
Built entirely of stone blocks, Belalcazar preserves two enclosures: an outer barrier adapted to the irregularities of the land and reinforced with rectangular towers, and the inner rectangular castle-palace with eight towers, one at each corner and another in the center of each side. All eight towers are of average height except for the eastern and principal tower, which rises noticeably above the rest.
In the 15th century, some Renaissance construction was added to improve the accommodations of the palace, which were insufficient in the old principal tower.The castle was built by the magnate Gutierre de Sotomayor, grand master of Alcantara, with the benefices he earned from his various possessions. The castle later passed on to the houses of Benavente and Osuna. In 1811, during the War of Independence, French troops defended the castle against a siege by the duke of Wellington's British troops.The exterior of the fortress is almost entirely intact, but nothing remains of the interior structure.
References: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).