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Castle of Cornatel

Priaranza del Bierzo, El Bierzo, León

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Castle of Cornatel

Monument · Priaranza del Bierzo, El Bierzo, León

The castle of Cornatel is a medieval fortress located in Villavieja, in the municipality of Priaranza del Bierzo, in El Bierzo, declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) on 22 April 1949. It sits on a rocky promontory cut by a ravine more than 180 metres deep; on the sides with easier access it is protected by a wall with a battlemented walkway. It is identified with the castle of Ulver mentioned in early medieval sources, whose first known holder appears in the early 11th century. By 1228 it was already in the hands of the Templars, who kept it until the order's suppression in 1312. Its present name, Cornatel, is first documented in 1378. Taken by the irmandiños in 1467, it inspired Enrique Gil y Carrasco's novel El señor de Bembibre.

Photo: Fogar Mozárabe (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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