Logbook · 15 places

Castle of Alarcón

Alarcón, La Manchuela Conquense, Cuenca

1 Villages · 9 Monuments · 2 Nature · 3 Curiosities

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Castle of Alarcón

Monument · Alarcón, La Manchuela Conquense, Cuenca

A fortress of Muslim origin built on a rocky spur surrounded by a meander of the Júcar river, dependent first on the emirate of Córdoba and later on the taifa kingdom of Toledo; it was conquered by Alfonso VIII in 1184, after a nine-month siege led by Captain Fernán Martínez de Ceballos, who was rewarded with the privilege of adopting the surname Martínez de Alarcón. The kings of Castile enlarged it and granted it a charter (fuero) in 1186 along with an extensive lordship, with an alfoz of 63 villages reaching as far as Albacete and La Roda. In 1305 it passed to the infante don Juan Manuel, who wrote part of his literary work there, and in 1446 to the nobleman Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena. A Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 1992, its 15th-century keep today houses a Parador Nacional.

Photo: emeritense from Madrid (CC BY-SA 2.0)

What to see and do in Alarcón