About

This castle was declared a Monument of Cultural Interest in June 1993. It is located in the County of Castilnovo, in the depression of the valley of the San Juan River between Villafranca and Valdesaz, it was originally built as a watchtower, located in a strategic place, to detect the presence of enemies. It is a Gothic-Mudejar castle with Toledo typology was the work of Arab builders; But its current state is not reminiscent of the caliphal era, due to the multiple modifications it has undergone throughout history in the hands of the different owners who have passed through its facilities. These are responsible for the mixture of architectural styles from the different periods that are superimposed on the fortification. It is a mixture between fortress and palace, with a square floor plan, with walls crowned with battlements, flanked by the six imposing towers, three prismatic and three cylindrical, adorned with numerous balconies and windows, framed with alfiz, mullioned, with horseshoe, ogee and pointed arches. In it you can see a beautiful mixture of ashlar stone, with Mudejar bricks and limestone, masonry and gravel (such as the Torre del Homenaje), all surrounded by dense vegetation that covers a large part of the building, as well as a huge Forest of Holm Oaks, Poplars, Poplars, Sabines and Willows (thick riverside vegetation). The origin of the castle is attributed by some historians to Abd al-Rahman I, who founded it in the eighth century. Others attribute it to Almanzor in the 10th century. Unfortunately, there are no remains of that time. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries we date the pointed arches on the west side of the Parade Ground. Subsequently, the 6 towers were added: Solana, Puerta and Vieja; and later those of Moro, Caracol and Álvaro de Luna. The latest reforms date back to the 19th and 20th centuries. He housed the kings of Aragon, Ferdinand I [(1380-1416), second son of John I of Castile and Eleanor of Aragon and Eleanor. It was Don Álvaro de Luna (Constable of Castile and Valido of John II, son of Henry III the Mourner and Queen Catherine of Lancaster and King of Castile between 1406 and 1454), who gave the castle the Mudejar appearance that we can admire today. Later, the illustrious owners were Henry IV (the Impotent, who was King of Castile between 1454 and 1474) and the Marquis of Villena, Juan Fernández Pacheco (valid of Henry IV and Duke of Escalona and later Duke of Frías and Constable of Castile. Ferdinand the Catholic (1452-1516) acquired the properties surrounding the Castle. The Catholic Monarchs will stay in the castle during their trips from Segovia to Burgos. It was Philip II who granted the County of Castilnovo in 1557 to Juliana Ángela de Velasco y Aragón, first Countess of Castilnovo, granddaughter of the Catholic King and daughter of Juana de Aragón (Juana la Loca). Legend has it that it was the resting place of Juana la Loca after the death of her husband, Philip the Fair; and that in the sixteenth century housed within its walls the sons of King Francis I of France, as hostages, after the battle of Pavia in 1525. [History says that after the battle, King Francis I of France was taken to Madrid, being guarded in the House and Tower of the Lujanes. Emperor Charles V demanded a lot from the French monarch and in 1526 he signed the Treaty of Madrid, by which he renounced the Milanese, Naples, Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. Fun fact: during the peace and liberation negotiations of Francis I, the Great Emperor renounced using his mother tongue (Burgundian French) and the usual language of diplomacy (Italian) to speak for the first time officially in Spanish. He was 25 years old. The major major renovation of the Castle dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, when José Galofre, a Catalan painter (and court painter) and secretary to Queen Isabella II, rescued the fortress from the ruins, in accordance with the Romanesque taste of the time, and built the south wing of the Courtyard of Arms. He acquired it from the German Prince of Hohenzollern, and since then the Castle is also known as Galofre Castle. Finally, during the twentieth century, the Marquises of Quintanar carried out the definitive reform before selling it to the Spanish-Mexican Cultural Association, since during the Civil War it suffered a slight abandonment so it took 5 years to rehabilitate it. --- Castilnovo Castle has been a monument of cultural interest since June 3, 1931. The most outstanding architectural style is Gothic-Mudejar, although Arabic, Elizabethan and Neoclassical remains can be observed. The origin of the castle is not clear, some researchers believe that it dates back to the eighth century by Abd-al Rahman I, others, however, attribute it to Almanzor (tenth century). Unfortunately, there are no remains of such a remote period, and we have to go back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to date the pointed arches on the west side of the Patio de Armas. In the fourteenth century, it was the home of the Kings of Aragon. In the fifteenth century, John II delivered it to his valid, D. Alvaro de Luna. It was later acquired by the Catholic Monarchs, who gave it as a dowry to a niece, creating the title of Count of Castilnovo. Thus, it enters the heritage of the Velasco family, Constable of Castile, who adapted the castle to the taste of the time. The first Countess of Castilnovo was Juliana de Velasco y Aragón in 1557. In the nineteenth century, it belonged to the Catholic branch of the Hohenzollern family and in 1856 it passed into the hands of José Galofré, painter and secretary of honor of Queen Elizabeth II.