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Castle of Biar

Biar, L'Alt Vinalopó, Alicante

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 3 Nature · 3 Activities · 2 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

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Castle of Biar

Monument · Biar, L'Alt Vinalopó, Alicante

The castle of Biar, from the 12th century, crowns a hill overlooking the town and is one of the finest examples of military architecture in the province of Alicante; declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931, it forms part of the Route of the Castles of the Vinalopó. It had little relevance in Muslim times and gained importance as a border fortress after the Treaty of Almizra, in the time of James I; it lost its military function in the Early Modern period and was even used as a cemetery before being restored from the late 20th century onward. It consists of an enclosure with four semicircular towers and the keep, square in plan and 17 metres high, with ribbed Almohad vaults among the oldest in Spain and the Maghreb, comparable to those of the Atalaya Castle in Villena.

Photo: Rodriguillo (Wikimedia Commons) (Public domain)

What to see and do in Biar