The Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón is a palace-fortress complex found in the small town of the same name near

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain. It is located on Madrid Avenue. The first construction on the site was built in the 15th century by the Counts of Chinchón. On this building, in 1496 the Marquis of Moya, Andrés Cabrera y Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla, built the first Castle. During the

Revolt of the Comuneros The Revolt of the Comuneros ( es, Guerra de las Comunidades de Castilla, "War of the Communities of Castile") was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its height, th ...

, the captains Diego de Heredia and Antonio de Mesa, knocked down the castle in 1521. In 1583 don Diego Fernández de Cabrera y Bobadilla, third count of Chinchón, commissioned its reconstruction from the royal architect

Juan de Herrera Juan de Herrera (1530 – 15 January 1597) was a Spanish architect, mathematician and geometrician. One of the most outstanding Spanish architects in the 16th century, Herrera represents the peak of the Renaissance in Spain. His sober style re ...

, who made one of the towers different from the others, giving the castle a more asymmetric profile. Two centuries later, in 1738, the King

Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish mon ...

bought the county and granted the title of Count of Chinchón and ownership of the castle to his son the ''infante'' Luis (half-brother of

Ferdinand VI of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Savoy , birth_date = 23 September 1713 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Madrid, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Villavi ...

). He, in turn, commissioned

Ventura Rodríguez Ventura Rodríguez Tizón (July 14, 1717 – September 26, 1785) was a Spanish architect and artist. Born at Ciempozuelos, Rodríguez was the son of a bricklayer. In 1727, he collaborated with his father in the work at the Royal Palace of Aranj ...

to restore the castle and gave the locality its present name, Villaviciosa de Odón. On August 17, 1758, after the death of his wife Bárbara de Braganza, Fernando VI moved to the fortress where he died the following year. In 1797 María Teresa de Borbón, Countess of Chinchón, whose portrait was painted by

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

, married the prime minister

Manuel Godoy Manuel Godoy y Álvarez de Faria, Prince of the Peace, 1st Duke of Alcudia, 1st Duke of Sueca, 1st Baron of Mascalbó (12 May 17674 October 1851) was First Secretary of State of Spain from 1792 to 1797 and from 1801 to 1808. He received many t ...

, favorite of

Charles IV of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles III of Spain , mother = Maria Amalia of Saxony , birth_date =11 November 1748 , birth_place =Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples , death_date = , death_place ...

. In 1808, having separated from the Countess, Godoy was dismissed after the

Mutiny of Aranjuez The Tumult of Aranjuez ( es, link=no, Motín de Aranjuez) was an uprising led against King Charles IV that took place in the town of Aranjuez, Spain, on 17–19 March 1808. The event, which is celebrated annually in the first week of September ...

, and imprisoned in this castle, which had belonged to his father-in-law.

Forestry school

Spain's first forestry school, the ''Escuela de Especial de Ingenieros de Montes'', was established at the castle in the 1840s. The forestry school relocated to

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...

in 1870, and later to the

Technical University of Madrid The Technical University of Madrid or sometimes called Polytechnic University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM) is a public university, located in Madrid, Spain. It was founded in 1971 as the result of merging different Te ...

Military school and later

Following the forestry school's departure, the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón became a military school. It was sacked and taken by both sides during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. It now belongs to the government and houses the Archives of the Spanish Air Force.

References

Castles in the Community of Madrid Archives in Spain Castle {{Spain-castle-stub