6 Must-See Spanish Castles

In this article, we will look at some of the finest Spanish castles that are open to visitors. This heritage ranges from stark frontier outposts to royal palaces that housed generations of monarchs and volumes of history. They all go back to a time when Hispania was a disparate collection of Christian kingdoms, with Islamic Andalusia in the south. Moving from castle to castle, we will trace the slow process of a nation taking shape over the course of hundreds of years, culminating with the 15th-century union of Ferdinand and Isabella.

A fine starting point is Spain’s most intact Romanesque stronghold. Loarre Castle commands the Hoya de Huesca, an immense sweep of sun-bleached farmland, from a high spur in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The setting is breathtaking, and the complex is guarded by massive limestone outcrops with edges smoothed off by the wind.

At the time of construction in the early 11th century modern Huesca was on the frontier between Christian and Muslim lands. It is easy to feel this sense of transition at the place where the mountains meet the plain. The panorama at Loarre Castle is vast, and it is interesting to ponder the notion that when it was built the various towns visible on the horizon were under Islamic control.

Beyond the portal is an impressive staircase and barrel vault. A doorway here leads to one of the castle’s standout features, the gloomy Crypt of Santa Quintería. The apse’s round-arched windows (two blind) retain their Romanesque capitals and are linked by two parallel bands of geometric checkerboard moldings.

Two tight stairways lead up to the extraordinary Church of San Pedro, which provides a surprising sense of scale. Its dome rises more than 80 feet above the nave, and it is intriguing to see how the vault configurations vary to adapt to the irregular topography of the castle’s outcrop. In the blind arches of the apse are more carved capitals, several of which are carved with Biblical scenes.

The blufftop location of this Knights Templar convent castle is what makes it so extraordinary. Miravet Castle sits more than 300 feet above a wide bend in the Ebro River, in a craggy, semi-mountainous landscape of pine scrub, hazel, and olive groves. The Ebro is the second-longest river on the Iberian Peninsula, and not far downstream it feeds one of the largest wetland systems in the Western Mediterranean.

Looking up from the riverside, the castle still transmits a sense of insurmountability almost 900 years after it was built in the 12th century. This Templar stronghold sprang from the remnants of a Moorish fortress, visible in what is left of the defensive wall swooping down the precipitous slope.

The property was given to the order by Ramon Berenguer IV (c. 1114-1162), whose conquest of these lands unified all of the territory that makes up modern Catalonia. On marrying Petronilla of Aragon, he founded a line of succession that eventually led to a dynastically unified Spain, under Isabella and Ferdinand.

Miravet makes a strong impression with its square walls and towering perch. The Templars used clean-carved white ashlar blocks, many of which have hardly weathered at all. One hint of the castle’s importance in the late 12th century lies in the name of the Torre del Tresor (the Treasure Tower). On the north side of the compound, this structure held an administrative archive and depository for Knights Templar’s wealth, accrued across Aragon and Catalonia.

Ascending the inner enclosure, the interpretive trail takes in spaces like the refectory, chapterhouse, and pantry, before reaching the atmospheric Romanesque convent church with a semi-circular apse and barrel vault. From here visitors face a harrowing climb up a steep and narrow spiral staircase to the roof, and a far-off view of the river and mountains.

Unusual for its circular footprint, Majorca’s Bellver Castle was built by James II of Majorca (1243-1311), who was a great-great-grandson of Ramon Berenguer IV. This monument is posted inland from the Bay of Palma, in the pine-covered hills a mile or two from the heart of Majorca’s capital.

Bellver Castle was designed for a mix of defense and comfort, and that sense of refinement still characterizes the keep. The inner courtyard is the castle’s standout feature, enclosed by grand arcades on two stories.

The arcade has round arches below, while the first floor features Gothic arches with Y-tracery, which was in style at the turn of the 14th century. At the center of the courtyard, you can see the opening to a large cistern, encompassing the entire area of the courtyard underground.

The castle was built to house James II’s court, with apartments facing inward on the stately courtyards. However, as the 14th century progressed the keep’s enclosed layout made it an ideal prison. Important inmates included Violante of Vilaragut, the wife of James II’s grandson, James III. He was killed trying to retake the island from the Crown of Aragon at the Battle of Llucmajor (1349).

The castle has faced three sieges and continued to hold captives until as recently as the Spanish Civil War when it was a makeshift Francoist prison. From 1936 until as late as 1939, some 800 Republican prisoners faced brutal conditions here. A large portion were executed, and others were transferred to concentration camps, while yet more were supposedly released but never heard from again.

Today, the castle holds the municipal history museum for the city of Palma de Mallorca. One compelling exhibit goes into depth on the Asturian politician, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744-1811). A Spanish Enlightenment figure, he was imprisoned here for six years in the 1800s.

For centuries there had been a defensive complex of some kind rising over the town of Medina del Campo. Then, in the first half of the 15th century, John II of Castile (1405-1454) readied the castle for gunpowder warfare.

This was the first in a series of phases that would turn the Castle of La Mota into a reference for early artillery forts. One addition was a low outer enclosure comprising underground gun positions with innovative ventilation systems to extract gunpowder smoke. Moats lowered the profile of the complex even further, leaving only the tops of the 65-foot inner curtain walls vulnerable to fire.

Throughout the tumultuous 15th century, La Mota was caught in a bloody tug-of-war between Castille and Aragon. It repeatedly changed hands between the two powers in the decades before they were finally united by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1469.

The outer brickwork of the exposed keep (Torre del Homenaje) and inner curtain wall still bear the scars of this period, with dozens of craters caused by artillery almost 600 years ago. This damage most likely dates to 1467, when it was taken by John II’s son, Alfonso during his rebellion against his half-brother Henry IV.

The union of Castile and Aragon largely brought an end to this civil strife, and you can see their heraldic crests over the main gate and outer bastion. From this time on, the tall keep became a prison.

One noteworthy inmate, in 1506, was Cesare Borgia (1475-1507), an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI whose exploits in Northern Italy gave Niccolò Machiavelli the inspiration for his political treatise The Prince. The story goes that he escaped the keep by climbing down a rope from a height of 131 feet.

Centered on the city of Pamplona, Navarre was once a separate state in Medieval Spain. By the 15th century, Charles III of Navarre (1361-1425) had transferred the seat of power to the picturesque city of Olite.

As opposed to the more spartan religious and military strongholds on this list, the Palace of the Kings of Navarre of Olite was purely residential. Indeed, Charles III gave his new home an unmatched level of finery and workmanship, combined with a formidable sense of scale.

Today, after centuries of decline and a fire during the Napoleonic Wars which destroyed the decoration, the dimensions and architecture can still be appreciated. The palace is an enthralling mass of castellated towers, hanging gardens, courtyards, and arcaded galleries.

Although the gilded coffered ceilings, profuse stained glass, and tapestries have been lost, there are tantalizing glimpses of the building’s fittings. The Sala Mudéjar, often closed to the public, has beautiful examples of Moorish-infused geometric plasterwork in ten panels. Other highlights include the 133-step spiral staircase climbing the keep, and the Galería del Rey (King’s Gallery), with its delicate Gothic tracery.

A stunning original space that is open to visitors is the complex’s Gothic church, which escaped real damage in the fire. The facade is exceptional, with a spectacular portal flanked by the twelve apostles in niches. The portal, centered on Mary in the tympanum, features beautifully rendered scenes from Bible stories, including the Slaughter of the Innocents and the Flight into Egypt.

The highlight inside is the altarpiece, installed in 1528 and composed of 28 painted panels as well as polychrome carved images of the Virgin and Child, and the Crucifixion.

In the 13th century, the Castilian House of Trastámara turned a forbidding cliff-top fortress into a royal abode, the seat of political power, and one of Europe’s most renowned palaces. Much later, the Alcázar of Segovia was one of several European Medieval palaces that inspired Disney’s Cinderella Castle.

At the west end of Segovia’s old town, the narrow rocky outcrop towering above the Eresma Valley has been fortified for over 2,000 years. In fact, there is plenty of ancient spolia in the lower walls, including Roman funerary stelae.

Still, the Alcázar of Segovia wasn’t officially documented until 1120, when it was guarded by a wooden stockade. A cave-in took place during the reign of Alfonso X in the mid-13th century, while the king was still inside. He was unhurt, but this event sparked a renovation, which was the first of numerous improvements until the reign of Philip II of Spain in the 16th century.

During that time, the Alcázar of Segovia became home to a long succession of kings. The palace hosted the Castilian royal treasury and Spanish Parliament and witnessed some epoch-making events in the unified nation’s early history. For instance, In 1474, Isabella I of Castille took refuge within these walls after the death of her father, Henry IV. The next day she was announced as Queen of Castile and León.

It was here that the Concord of Segovia (1475) was signed, officially unifying Castile and Aragon. The palace was also the site of the last meeting between Ferdinand II of Aragon and Christopher Columbus, before the explorer’s death in 1506.

From the outside, together with the round watch towers with conical roofs, the most recognizable element is the Torre de Juan II (Tower of John II). This monolithic structure, erected in the mid-15th century and more than 260 feet in height, became a symbol of the Spanish monarchy’s absolute power. From the roof, the panorama of the city, Eresma Valley, and Sierra de Guadarrama mountains is not to be missed.

Touring the palace’s restored interiors, the Hall of the Galley (Sala de la Galera) catches the eye with its mudéjar coffered ceiling, resembling a ship’s hull. Further on, the Hall of the Kings (Sala de los Reyes) dates to Alfonso X’s reign in the 13th century. Henry VI ordered the spectacular frieze, with carved depictions of the various rulers of Castile and León as a statement of the crown’s political power.