Guadalajara Castles
Jadraque´s Castle
Arab chronicles mention a castle built here in 801 to protect
the valley of the Henares and the access to Guadalajara.
The primitive castle of Sacharaque was demolished by Don Pedro
Gonzalez de Mendoza, at the time bishop of Siguenza, because it
was in ruins. Years later, at the end of the fifteenth century,
it was rebuilt.
The most impressive feature of the castle is its position on a
hill that looks as if it had been created especially for such
a castle.
In plan it is a long parallelogram with its sides in a ratio of.
one to four. There are circular and square towers along its flanks
and at the corners. There is neither a principal tower nor a protective
ditch, but there is a barbican with strong sloping batters for
artillery warfare.
The castle is very sober in profile, with smooth walls terminating
in crenellations. It has neither the machicolations nor projecting
turrets characteristic of other seignorial castles of the fifteenth
century.
Castle of Molina
Knowledge of (he history of the lordship of Molina begins n 1129
when Alfonso I, "El Batallador." reconquered the territory.
The city and the foundation of the present fortress are certainly
much older, however The celebrated Arab geographer El Basis in
the tenth century described it as an outstanding castle, and in
the Poem of My Cid's Moorish ally Aben Galvan.
The lines of the castle reveal its Islamic origin it occupies
the slope of a mountain that dominated the city, and on the high
point of the ridge stands the Tower of Aragon a very tall structure
despite the fact that it was cut down during the Cyclist wars.
The lower is encircled by a small ring of walls and a ditch, and
was connected to the rest of tire castle by a long wall The main
precinct consists of two parts: a large, walled enclosure and
the castle itself built into one corner. , The castle originally
had six towers, two of which are missing today. Inside them we
can sill see fragments of the Gothic structure.
Because of its location on the border between Aragon and Castile,
it was the scene of frequent battles between these kingdoms. Peter
IV of Aragon captured it to 1369 and held until 1375, when the
Castilians recaptured it. In the nineteenth century the fortress
was used in the Carlist wars, when some of die defenses were adapted
for new types of armaments.
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