Logbook · 7 places

Castle of Oreja

Ontígola, Mesa de Ocaña, Toledo

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Activities · 3 Curiosities

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Castle of Oreja

Monument · Ontígola, Mesa de Ocaña, Toledo

The Castillo de Oreja, of 10th-century Muslim origin, stands in the former settlement of Oreja, within the municipal boundary of Ontígola, on the site of the Roman place called Aurelia. The Muslims held a fortress here which Alfonso VI of León acquired as the dowry of his wife Zaida; after the Christian defeat at Uclés in 1108 it returned to Muslim hands and became a threat to the kingdom of Toledo, until in 1139 Alfonso VII conquered it after a six-month siege and resettled the town with Christians. Alfonso VIII granted it to the Order of Santiago, which used it against the Almohads. It consists of a tall rectangular tower girded by an irregular wall on the crag, with arrow slits, a cistern and the remains of a church inside; it is now in an advanced state of ruin.

Photo: Rodelar (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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