Castillo de Alba is a Spanish fortress in
Quirós
Quirós is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. To the southeast is the municipality of Lena, to the south lies the Autonomous Community of León, to the northeast Riosa and Morcín, to the north is ...
,
Asturias
Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensiv ...
, Spain, near the village of Faedo.
History
It was founded by first Asturian kings to defend the mountain valley from Muslim attacks. In the 12th century it fell into the hands of the rebel Count
Gonzalo Peláez, in the reign of
Urraca of León and Castile Urraca (also spelled ''Hurraca'', ''Urracha'' and ''Hurracka'' in medieval Latin) is a female first name. In Spanish, the name means magpie, derived perhaps from Latin ''furax'', meaning "thievish", in reference to the magpie's tendency to collect ...
.
It subsequently became part of the Church of
Oviedo following a donation by
Ferdinand II of León
Ferdinand II (c. 1137 – 22 January 1188), was a member of the Castilian cadet branch of the House of Ivrea and King of León and Galicia from 1157 until his death.
Life Family
Born in Toledo, Castile, Ferdinand was the third but second surv ...
. In 1372 the bishop of Oviedo entrusted the castle to
Gonzalo Bernaldo de Quirós, but soon Enrique II of Castile returned it to the bishopric.
Today, the castle is in ruins and only several walls, a cistern and the gateway are preserved.
References
Castles in Asturias
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