Castles of Spain Trivia Quiz

Answer: In Ruins

Our tour starts in the town of Santa Coloma de Cervelló, near Barcelona. Torre Salvana was built in the 10th century, using a blend of Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles. The builders of the castle, the Counts Ramón and Ermengol, sold their castle to the first of a series of owners in 992. Around 1300 it came into the possession of James II (King of Aragon and Valencia, and Count of Barcelona). It saw a lot of action during the Catalan Civil War during the 15th century before being allowed to lapse into disrepair before being finally abandoned in 1715.

Although it is now in ruins, you can make out much of its original structure (several towers still stand, with some connecting walls) while enjoying the view over the surrounding countryside. It has been nicknamed the Castle of Hell, and is reputed to be the site of numerous paranormal events.

Answer: In Ruins

Near the centre of the northern part of Spain is the castle of Davalillo, built in the 13th century as part of the border between the Kingdom of Navarre and the Kingdom of Castile. The town in which it was built was abandoned - legend says due to a plague of scorpions - by about 1450, and the castle is now unused. Most of its walls are still standing, as a result of which it was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest because it is one of the few Romanesque castles still standing in Spain.

The stone castle was built on a heptagonal (seven-sided) plan, with round towers on each vertex. Inside the walls (which still stand, minus battlements), the four-storied square keep is still intact, including the chapel. The south door through the walls shows signs of the defensive structures that once protected it, and there is evidence of other former structures such as stables and warehouses.

Answer: In Ruins

Castrotorafe is currently an uninhabited zone in Castile and León, near the border with Portugal. A castle was first built here, on a site that overlooks, and controls movement on, the River Esla, sometime before about 1300. It was double-walled, and clearly did its job well, as it was still upgraded for defense against artillery in the 15th century, and there is a record of repairs being made as late as 1600. By the end of the 17th century, however, it was described as unusable.

Three of the original towers still stand, more or less, with the southern wall and the part of the eastern wall which held the main door. You can also see where the old moat was located. The interior, however, is completely in ruins.

Answer: Intact

Here we have our first intact castle in active use. An alcázar is a type of castle built by Islamic rulers (although sometimes the word is used interchangeably with castillo, a castle), as suggested by its Arabic-derived title. This one was built by the Almoravid dynasty, sometime before Segovia was retaken by Christian forces around 1080. Of course, that was more of a wooden fort, not the stone structure that has since been constructed, starting in the early 13th century. Because Segovia was a favorite spot for the Castilian rulers, the alcázar was developed to be worthy of a royal residence. The opulence of its interior can still be seen, even though it is now a museum rather than a palace.

Many significant events occurred here over the years, including its role as the base from which Isabella I launched her claim to the throne of Castile and León. In 1764 it became a military college, and has also been used as a prison. In 1985 it was declared a UNSECO World Heritage Site, and in 1998 it was also decreed to be the site for the national military archives, building on the records that had long been accumulated there.

Answer: In Ruins

This castle, also known as Caudilla Castle because it is in the (now uninhabited) town of Caudilla, north of Toledo, was built in the 15th century by Hernando de Rivadeneyra, Marshal of Castile. (His family name is also given as Ribadeneira and Rivadeneira.) While it was made of stone and fortified, it was more a palace than a military fortress. It was the site from which Enrique IV led a troop of soldiers to capture Toledo during the Catalan Civil War. Because he had forces stationed here, it had to withstand attack from the soldiers supporting his brother Alfonso.

The castle has fallen into ruins - exacerbated in 1999 when the main façade collapsed. Now you can see a few towers, and bits of wall. There have been a few attempts to restore it, but none have succeeded. Tourists continue to visit and take pictures, because the castle's profile on top of its hill is still quite stunning.

Answer: In Ruins

Located near the Cordovan town of Belalcázar (which means beautiful castle, because this one certainly was), this castle was built in the second half of the 15th century in Gothic style by Gutierre de Sotomayor, to be his residence. Its 47-metre high keep, called the Tower of Homage, is the highest in Spain. It is a square tower for the bottom part, but then becomes a circular tower with eight projecting semi-cylindrical projecting towers called escaraguaitas (Catalan for cockroach).

The external granite walls and towers are still intact, and make an impressive sight, but the interior has been increasingly in a state of disrepair since it was captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars, and turned into a warehouse (after first being subjected to significant artillery damage). A lot of the granite stonework has since been plundered, and the castle is considered to be too unstable to be visited. In the 21st century some work has been done to restore the castle to its previous grandeur, and convert it to a tourist centre.

Answer: Intact

In English, the name of this castle in the centre of Cordoba is Castle of the Christian Monarchs, because it was built by Alfonso XI of Castile, and subsequently became one of the principal residences used by Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. They used it as one of the main centres of the Inquisition, with the tribunal established in 1482 continuing to operate for nearly three centuries. It was here the Christopher Columbus met Isabella and Ferdinand to gain their backing for his 1492 expedition. In 1810 Napoleon's troops occupied the castle; in 1821 it was turned into a prison. It was not until the 20th century that the Spanish government turned it into a tourist attraction, and added extensive gardens to the site. Given its rich history, it is not surprising that the castle was declared a Cultural Interest Heritage site in 1931.

The current structure was built in 1328, on a site that had been used as the seat of government of the Umayyad Caliphate from the 8th century through the 11th century, becoming the residence of Iberian Muslim governors until the Christian Reconquest of Cordoba in 1236. Some remains of this alcázar can still be seen near the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. Alfonso used Mudéjar (Muslims who remained in Spain after the Reconquest) art and architecture in the construction of his castle, making it look to be from an earlier time than is the case.

Answer: Intact

Built in 968, the castle located in the Andalusian town of Baños de la Encina is the oldest still-functional castle in Spain. The French Château de Doué-la-Fontaine, built in 950, is the only older one in Europe.

As well as this commonly-used name, the castle has also been called Burgalimar Castle (an Arabic translation meaning Castle of the Baths, since the Spanish Baños means baths) and La Fortaleza de los Siete Reyes (Fortress of the Seven Kings, a reference to the seven Spanish kings who counted it as a favourite residence). The name of the region over which each claimed kingship varied over time, as this was before the creation of a unified Spain, but the final one was Ferdinand II of Aragon, who was also King Ferdinand V of Castile following his marriage to Isabella I of Castile.

The castle was built while the area was held by the caliph Al-Hakam II during the Umayyad Caliphate, and changed hands a number of times over the years of the Reconquista, settling in the hands of Christian Spaniards in 1215. The keep, called in Spanish the 'Torre del Homenaje' (Tower of Homage) was constructed in 1466. It was occupied by French troops during the Napoleonic Wars (called the War of Spanish Independence in Spain), following which it returned to Spanish hands. In 1931 it was declared a National Monument.

Answer: Intact

The Real Alcázar de Sevilla (Royal Alcázar of Seville) began life in the 10th century as an Islamic citadel to guard the city, developing into a larger palace complex under the Abbabid and Almohad dynasties during the 11th - 13th centuries. When the city was captured by Castilian forces in 1248, it was progressively reconstructed to remove Islamic architecture and decorative features. The dominant style used was Mudéjar - the style developed by Muslims who were allowed to stay on the Iberian Peninsula, and worked in conjunction with the Christian rulers from the 13th century through most of the 15th century, before their forcible expulsion in the later years of the 15th century.

The reconstruction of the complex by Pedro I in the 1360s is considered to have produced one of the finest examples of Mudéjar art and architecture. In 1987 the alcázar was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is administered by the Patrimonio Nacional, and the upper floors are still used as a royal residence when the royal family visits Seville. These are the same rooms that were used as the main residence of Isabella and Ferdinand as their main residence.

Answer: Intact

The palace and fortress complex known as the Alhambra started construction in 1238, under the direction of the Nasrid emir who founded the Emirate of Granada, which was to become the last Muslim state in Andalusia. The site had been used for some earlier fortresses, but this incarnation on the site became the start of continuous development that led to the current castle. Construction during the 13th through 15th centuries have left some of the best-preserved examples of Islamic architecture of those times. This includes both carved stucco ornamentation and a wonderful array of mosaic tilings which include most of the 17 possible combinations of shape referred to as wallpaper groups (shapes which can be repeated endlessly to completely cover a flat surface).

When Isabella and Ferdinand made it their royal court in 1492, alterations were made, but the fundamental architecture remained intact. In the 16th century, additions were made in Renaissance style, before much of the castle fell into disrepair, with Napoleon's troops destroying significant amounts of it in 1812. Restoration in the 19th century did not try to return the buildings to their original state, but to what the architect thought might have been a good idea. During the 20th century a more rigorous approach to the restoration and conservation of the site was used.

The castle gets its name, which is Arabic for The Red One, because its external walls were constructed of rammed earth, using the local soil which was a red clay.