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Castles in Cadiz

Matrera Castle

Castles in Cadiz

Matrera Castle – Villamartin

The Matrera Castle is located between the andalusians towns of Villamartin and Prado del Rey, near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Mountains, in the Sierra de Pajarete, at 523 m high.

Built in the late ninth century and Arab origin, the  Matrera Castle is in a state of progressive ruin.

The Matrera Castle is built on an esplanade and in it there are two distinct areas, firstly the Keep, defended by a wall and the parade also surrounded by walls with two gates, the Gate of Carts and the Puerta del Sol. The Parade or Albacar is oversized elliptical.

The Keep  of the Matrera Castle is rectangular, 15 m long by 10 m wide. The construction conserves three loopholes (small open bays in the wall from which arrows  were launched).

The walled area exceeded 500 m and consisted of several towers, today disappeared.

The Matrera Castle is privately owned farm.

Matrera Castle - Villamartín

Matrera Castle Data

Matrera Castle is located in the Sierra de Pajarete, 523 meters above sea level, on the road from Villamartín to Prado del Rey. It is located on a small esplanade at the top of a hill. It is of Andalusian origin and was ordered to be built by Omar Ben Hafsun at the end of the 9th century to defend the city of Iptuci, on the border of the Cora de Ronda. The enclosure is divided into two different areas, the main or Homage Tower, defended by a walled enclosure and the Patio de Armas also surrounded by walls and with two gates, the Puerta de los Carros and the Puerta del Sol. The Albácar or Patio de Armas is large and has an elliptical floor plan. The walled enclosure exceeded 500 meters and consisted of numerous towers, now disappeared.

The castle was made up of a large walled enclosure with a perimeter of more than 500 metres, which surrounded the parade ground, which is accessed from the Puerta del Sol to the east and the Puerta de los Carros to the west, both flanked by towers. Several of these are located along the canvas of the wall, highlighting the main tower in the north. This was rectangular, 15 x 10 meters, conserving three arrow slits.

It had a consolidation project, but in 2013 it was affected by a collapse of the north wall and two vaults as a result of heavy rains. A controversial intervention has recently been carried out on it.

The castle is private property, even though the periodic landing and take-off of large helicopters belonging to the army has been verified.

In 2013, a large part of the tower collapsed due to the scarce repair work of the structural problems detected decades ago. The subsequent preservation work in 2016 has turned out to be highly controversial, receiving both criticism and the award in the “Preservation” category of the New York A+Architizer Awards.


2 comentarios

  1. Jerónimo Armario Medina escribio:

    Me gustaría saber si de esta fortaleza disponéis de planos de los siglos XVI o XVII.

  2. Stroup Erin escribio:

    How do you get to this castle?

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