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Castle of la Mola

Novelda, El Vinalopó Mitjà, Alicante

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Castle of la Mola

Monument · Novelda, El Vinalopó Mitjà, Alicante

The castle of la Mola stands on a hill at 360 metres above sea level, 3 kilometres from Novelda, overlooking the middle valley of the Vinalopó; it was part of the network of castles and towers that defended Andalusi territory against the Christian kingdoms. Its first settlement, from the Bronze Age, lay on the southern slope; in the 10th century an Islamic fortified enclosure was built, and with the Almohads, in the 12th, a walled and towered enclosure of polygonal plan was added, of which four of its eight turrets remain. Around the middle of the 13th century it was conquered by the Infante Alfonso of Castile, and in 1305, with the Pact of Elche, it passed to the Crown of Aragon; James II ordered its reconstruction, adding the singular triangular tower of the 14th century. It has been a Monumento histórico-artístico (Spain's former heritage-protection designation, later absorbed into the Bien de Interés Cultural category) since 1931.

Photo: LUIS ARACIL (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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