Soria Castles
Castle of Almenar
Built in the 15th century on the site of an older castle, of which
some remains are preserved.
The round cubes of the yard are open for defensive purposes.
It has a double walled enclosure with a square ground plan, reinforced
at the angles with cylindrical turrets. In the interior enclosure
(quite higher than the exterior one), stood the tower of homage,
not preserved, and the main yard or parade ground.
Castle Caracena
Built in the late 15th century on a previous castle whose defensive
walls are preserved, dating from the 12th or 13th century.
Double enclosure, artificial moat, round turrets and square Tower
of Homage, as well as FIRE arm shooting chambers.
The towers have large loopholes and protect the outside enclosure
between the fortress, the wall and the cliff.
Its current ruinous condition is pret much the same as in the
16th century.
Some experts believe Caracena must have been a strategic spot
along the Islamic route between Gormaz and Atienza.
Castle of Berlanga
Nothing remains of the former Muslim fortress of the 10th century,
located on the site of the present Christian structure.
The building had other walls, possibly dating from the 12th century.
It has two enclosures. The interior one dates from the 15th century
and was built by the Tovar family (Luis Tovar and his wife María
de Guzmán). It has a Tower of Homage with coats of arms
relating the building to Valladolid, due to its sentry boxes and
angular turrets.
The exterior enclosure was built in the 16th century with thick
walls flanked by cylindrical turrets, by the Italian architect
Benedetto of Ravena.
Castle of Calatañazor
The castle has a square round plan, with square turrets in the
corners and a rectangular tower of homage.
Open loopholes have been found in the structure, but no battlements,
which leads experts to think it was once covered with a roof.
The round turrets in the southern front and the semicircular turrets
of the main entrance were probably added in the 15th century.
Calatañazor means "castle of voltures" in Arabic,
an almost literal translation of voluce, the old Hispanic-Roman
name of the Celt-Iberian village.
Castle of Gormaz
The fortress has rectangular turrets. Its main door, topped with
a horseshoe arch framed by the alfiz, makes the castle one of
the most representative Islamic fortresses.
On the western side stood the citadel, with a water reservoir
of more than 100,000 litres.
The wall that separated it from the rest of the structure was
probably erected in the 14th century. The Torre de Trastámara
was built around the same time.
During the first years of the Reconquista (Christian Reconquest),
a fortress was built on the site of a previous building, probably
a vernacular edifice with Visigothic remains. This fortress was
successively attacked by the Christians and the Muslims, and subsequently
enlarged and reformed.
We know that, during the battle of the river Osma in 940, the
tropos of Abdarrahman III killed the Count of Gormaz and then
camped in front of the castle, but the did not attempt to take
the fortress.
Castle of Magaña
This typical 15th-century fortress is located on a hilltop with
breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape.
Double walled enclosure, solidly built. The outside of the polygonal
wall is reinforced with seven turrets. Inside, the square enclosure,
more elevated, is protected by four cylindrical turrets standing
on the corners.
The Tower of Homage preserves a part of the battlements.
Castle of Monteagudo
This is a pentagonal castle, perfectly adapted to the side of
a hilltop, where stands the fortified village.
It has buttress-turrets in the corners, as in the Castillo de
Encinas (Valladolid).
The rebuilt interior courtyard and the straight-lintel windows
date from the 16th century.
Castle of Osma
The main section takes up the highest part of a steep hill.
The northern door is flanked by two rectangular turrets.
The whole structure was built with the materials available at
the Roman town of Uxama.
The wall surrounding the structure may date from the 16th century.
The Torre del Agua, whose function was to supply the castle with
water from the river Ucero, may date from the 15th century.
Castle of Rello and walls
State-owned castle dating from the 14th - 16th centuries.
In ruins.
Castle of San Leonardo
It has a rectangular ground plan and four round-pointed bastions.
The castle consists of large blocks of stone secured with brick,
reminiscent of the fortresses in Tuscany and Siena.
The combination of a bastioned fortress and a classic castle is
probably the main feature of the castle. It has low, thick, slanted
walls, designed to protect the castle against artillery attacks.
This castle was used as a prototype to build the American castles.
Inside, the pillared courtyard has bastions and classic mouldings.
In 1563 Juan Manrique de Lara, the former General Captain of Artillery
and Viceroy of Naples, purchased the village of San Leonardo from
the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, and a little later Felipe
II gives permission to build the castle.
Castle of Ucero
The castle stands at one end of the walled enclosure, becoming
part of the surrounding wall.
It has three enclosures, like most Templar castles.
The outside wall has Gothic windows and a belfry-looking tower
of homage. There is a vault, where the nerves and a medallion
are still visible. The iconography of the gargoyles and the crenellations
represents human figures and an eagle dominating a serpent.
The main gate leads directly to the moat separating the castle
from the village.
Outside, the castle was surrounded by a barrier with many loopholes.
A vaulted, underground mine leading to the Ucero river has been
preserved.
The village of Ucero maintains its power until the 13th century,
when Alfonso X of Castile donated it to Juan García de
Villamayor.
Castle of Vozmediano
The castle seems quite old and three different construction stages
are visible in its walls.
This is a double enclosure structure built on big rocks. The outide
wall is thick and solid. The top has medieval-looking battlements.
The large tower of homage preserves the outside access gate and
the one leading to the courtyard. There used to be different floors.
Today, only the arches remain.
Vozmediano was an independent village until the kingdom of Fernando
IV, when it becomes part of Agreda.The castle was linked to the
house of the Marquis of Santillana, who served as a frontier man
in Somontano for the kings of Aragón. There, he wrote his
Serranilla del Moncayo (poetry).
Castle of Yanguas
Yanguas is the gate to the canyons leading to Arnedo and Enciso.
The word yanguas means "gate".The second lord of the
village was probably the buider of the castle, erected with Muslim
techniques and sand bonding.
Restoration works were carried out in the late 16th century.
Soria guide