An itinerary thrrough castellar castle

The following is a guide that will help the visitor to travel through one of the few examples of inhabited fortresses existing in Spain: Castellar Castle.

The fortress of Castellar is built on a Roman assent whose main objective was to watch out the possible invaders coming from the sea. From the XIII century, Castellar became an important defensive building and it was a direct witness of the confrontation between Christians and Muslims. The castle dates back to this century. There is a village within the walls that has been inhabited for centuries.

If we access through the inferior entry, we arrive at the first flanking tower, whose main objective was to defend a weak area. After this first tower, and after walking through a passage with barbicans at both sides, we find the second albarrana tower. With these two towers and the barbican, the entry to the fortress was well protected and the enemy attack became very weak.

Once we have passed under the arch of second flanking tower, we can have a stop at what it is called “azoteilla” (it is like a terrace) from where we can have a fantastic view of the countryside nearby Castellar, Campo de Gibralrar, Los Alcornocales Natural Park, Ronda mountains and Morocco. La azoteilla is located next to the main gate to the fortress and we can study how this was in that period. From the azoteilla, we can also admire the Royal Palace building with all its elements and towers (today this palace has been transformed into a hotel ).

Behind the main door and passing under the arch, we have the arm courtyard that leads to the village. This village is of Muslim origin and it is made up by houses and narrow streets with a clear Arab influence. Some buildings are decorated with flowers and other plants.

Within the village, the visitor can see the former church, which is today an exhibition gallery, and a curious architectonical element: algorfa, which is a passage that used to link the palace and the church and that was used by the formers Lords to attend mass, being separated from the rest of the village.

Through some streets of the village, we can admire a wonderful view of the wonderful landscape as well as the wall and flanking towers that closed the fortress.

Nowadays, Castellar Fortress is very visited by many people. There are visitors that come for one day, but there are others that prefer staying longer and enjoy the nature, tranquillity and architecture or feel the experience of living in a village with a great historic importance. For that purpose, they rent the different houses that are available for tourists. There is also a three stars hotel built in the former Royal Palace. The traditional gastronomy is also offered in the restaurants and bars in the village .

Andrés Herrera Moya