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Castle-Palace of Arbeca

Arbeca, Garrigues, Lleida

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

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Castle-Palace of Arbeca

Monument · Arbeca, Garrigues, Lleida

The castle-palace of Arbeca, in Les Garrigues, crowns the hill that overlooks the village, at the south-eastern end of the comarca. Documented since 1158, it was extensively remodelled around 1475 by Joan Ramon Folc III of Cardona until it became a magnificent Renaissance building with four corner towers and a large central tower; in 1503 it hosted Philip the Handsome, and 16th-century chronicles described it as having as many windows as days in the year. It was blown up with gunpowder in 1707, after the War of the Spanish Succession, and its scant ruins were further damaged by the construction of the municipal water tanks in 1898 and the village school in 1945. Today part of the wall, a round tower with a battered base and the socle of another, with well-worked ashlar, are preserved.

Photo: Angela LLop (CC BY-SA 2.0)

What to see and do in Arbeca