The Castle of Jadraque (Spanish: ''Castillo de Jadraque'') is a castle in the municipality of

Jadraque Jadraque is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Guadalajara, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 38.91 km2. As of 1 January 2020, it has a population of 1,370. History It is home to a medieval castl ...

, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It sits on a hill commanding the plain of the

Henares The Henares () is a river in Spain, tributary of the Jarama. It has its source in the Sierra Ministra, in the village of Horna, near Sigüenza, in the province of Guadalajara. Its tributaries are the Torote, the Sorbe, the Cañamares, the S ...

river. It is sometimes called "Castle of Cid" as it is mentioned in the poem '' Cantar del Mio Cid''. Built in

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

stone, it has a rectangular shape with a perimeter of 240 metres. It has four round and one rectangular tower. Archaeological investigations proved that the site was used since prehistoric times; later it was a fortification of the emirate of Spain and its Moorish descendants. In 1085 it was conquered by the Christians under

Alfonso VI of Castile Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

. In 1469 it was bought by cardinal

Pedro González de Mendoza Pedro González de Mendoza (3 May 1428 – 11 January 1495) was a Spanish cardinal, statesman and lawyer. He served on the council of King Enrique IV of Castile and in 1467 fought for him at the Second Battle of Olmedo. In 1468 he was named bi ...

. The current structure dates to the late 15th century, and is attributable to

Juan Guas Juan Guas (c. 1430-33 – c. 1496) was a Spanish artist and architect of French origin. He worked in a group of architects to create the Isabelline style. Born in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, he moved to Spain when he was young, and is often thought t ...

. The only element remaining from the pre-existing castle was a pentagonal tower, which was anyway dismantled later. The castle, used by the Mendoza as a noble residence, was abandoned after the death of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza. It was used again as a fortress during the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

and the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

References

External links

Page at castillos.net
{{coord, 40, 55, 9, N, 2, 55, 59.76, W, display = title 15th-century fortifications