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Castle-palace of Magalia

Las Navas del Marqués, Burgohondo - El Tiemblo - Cebreros, Ávila

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Spain › Castile and León › Ávila › Burgohondo - El Tiemblo - Cebreros › Las Navas del Marqués › Castle-palace of Magalia

Castle-palace of Magalia

Monument · Las Navas del Marqués, Burgohondo - El Tiemblo - Cebreros, Ávila

The Magalia castle-palace, in Las Navas del Marqués (Ávila), was built for the most part in the first half of the 16th century, around 1540, by order of Pedro Dávila, Marquis of Las Navas, from whom the municipality took its name. It is a mainly Renaissance building that sits partly on bare rock, one of the few rock-built castles still standing. Among its technical rarities are the two flat vaults of the library tower, contemporary with those of El Escorial, which, according to tradition, Philip II himself decided not to copy there for fear they would collapse. The arcaded courtyard has twenty-four Ionic arches and as many Doric columns, decorated with the coats of arms of the Dávila and Córdoba families. It was declared a Monumento Histórico-Artístico Nacional (a former Spanish heritage-protection category, precursor to the BIC) on 3 June 1931.

Photo: Fundación Joaquín Díaz (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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