Maqueda is a Spanish town located 80 kilometers from

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and 45 kilometers from Toledo. Located within the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

Castilla-La Mancha and the

province of Toledo Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila. Its capital is the city of Toledo. ...

, Maqueda is located in the comarca of Torrijos. The town is best known for its remarkably well-preserved castle, the ''Castillo de la Vela''.

Etymology

The name "Maqueda" comes from the root ''mkd'' and the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

term ''Maqqada'', which means "stable", "firm", or "solid". Other experts believe that the name derives from the root ''kyd'' and the Arabic term ''Makîda'', which means "strategically located" or "strong plaza".

The ''castillo de la vela''

The ''castillo de la vela'', also known as the ''castillo de Maqueda'' is located on the outskirts of town. Originally of Moorish design, the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

was rebuilt and expanded during the 15th century. It was eventually appropriated by the state, which established a

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard ( es, Guardia Civil, link=no; ) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the a ...

post within the castle and provided for its future

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

. The castle is

rectangular In Euclidean geometry, Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a par ...

in shape and sits on two distinct

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

s. The castle's protections include 3.5-meter-thick walls,

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

s on two sides, and a number of circular

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

s. The exterior of the castle is free to visit, though visitors are not permitted to enter the castle proper. The castle was declared an artistic historical

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

on 3 June 1931.

References

Municipalities in the Province of Toledo Towns in Spain {{CastileLaMancha-geo-stub