Built during the medieval period, the fortified complex of Arjona boasted sophisticated and impregnable defences formed by three walled enclosures: an outer ring of walls crowned by 24 towers to defend the town, an alcazaba and an alcázar. It also boasted other defensive features such as a moat, which (according to records) was located to the south of the castle, and an external wall that created an outer bailey or transit area. 

Set into the walls of Arjona were seven gates flanked by pairs of towers, except for Puerta Nueva which was, in reality, a wicket gate. The majority of these defensive structures were built of irregular masonry or rough stone blocks, cemented together with a mortar of lime and sand.

During the Middle Ages, what is now Plaza de Santa María was occupied by the alcazaba, which stood on the highest part of the terrain. The alcazaba was a walled enclosure housing the palaces that were home to the town’s civil and military leaders. One end of the alcazaba was occupied by the alcázar, the town’s political hub. The Church of Santa María, which presides over the aforementioned square, stands on the site of the earlier congregational mosque, which was built opposite the Muslim palaces. Next to the church there is a large and well-preserved medieval cistern, possibly from the Almohad period. It is rectangular in shape and boasts three barrel-vaulted ceilings held up by semi-circular arches resting on Roman columns, some of which bear inscriptions.

A number of the town’s defences survive today among its residential buildings. Some parts of the towers and walls have been incorporated into the rear sections of houses, or been reused as dividing walls for residences including those on Calle Reloj, Calle Belén and Calle Sol. Fragments of the outer wall of the alcazaba can be found on Paseo de los Mártires, where they serve as a retaining wall. Additionally, parts of the defensive walls have been incorporated into the dividing walls separating San Miguel Hospital and Calle Alcázar. 

The town of Arjona sits on the summit and upper slopes of a flat-topped hill, which offers a vantage point over a wide expanse of land and the main routes of communication between the Guadalquivir Valley and the Campiña region. Owing to its strategic value, it has been occupied from prehistoric times to the present day. 

The area that is now Plaza de Santa María was home to Copper and Bronze Age settlements, and the area remained occupied into the Iberian period with the establishment of a mid-sized oppidum (larger than the current square) protected by solid walls reinforced with bastions and towers.

With the arrival of the Romans, the settlement became a municipium and was given the name Urgavo. During the reign of Augustus, it became of increasing political importance and its residents were among the first to be granted Roman citizenship. Arjona remained under Roman control until 412 AD, after which only the highest point of the hill remained occupied during the period of Visigothic rule.

Following the Muslim conquest, the Banu Bayila family established itself in the area now known as Arjona, which was then called Qal’ at Aryuna. During that period, the walls were strengthened and the alcazaba was built on the site of the Iberian oppidum. Arjona became the primary town in one of the most important iqlims (administrative districts) into which the kura of Yayyan was divided, with authority over the surrounding rural settlements. Towards the end of the 9th century, Emir Abd Allah ordered the fortification of Arjona and Andújar in order to provide protection and shelter to the peasants living in the surrounding countryside. 

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, the defences of Arjona and a number of other towns in the Guadalquivir Valley were strengthened as a result of the unstable political situation in al-Andalus following the disintegration of the Umayyad Caliphate, and in response to the threat posed by Christian armies. It was during this period that the town underwent its greatest expansion, resulting in reinforced defences and the establishment of its medieval urban layout. In 1232, Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr ibn al-Ahmar (popularly known as Alhamar), who was born in Arjona, proclaimed himself sultan in Jaén and six years later founded a new kingdom with its capital in Granada.

Nuño González laid siege to Arjona in 1244, after which the Muslim authorities agreed to surrender the town without resistance. It became part of the royal estate, and one of the main administrative divisions of the kingdom of Jaén. In 1248, the town was granted the status of villa by King Sancho, which afforded it certain privileges. As recompense for the support provided, Arjona became part of the feudal estate of the Constable of Castile, Ruy López Dávalos, and subsequently passed into the hands of Álvaro de Luna. He gave it to the Order of Calatrava in exchange for other possessions, and the town thus became the headquarters of the Commandery of the Order.

Over time, the elimination of the border between Castile and the Nasrid kingdom rendered a large part of Arjona’s walled defences obsolete.

LEGENDS

“The Conqueror’s Mare”. Al-lushi had an excellent mare, which gained such an outstanding reputation amongst the neighbouring Christian populations that the king of Castile wanted to buy it at any cost. However, Al-lushi was so fond of his mare that he refused to sell her. For three nights he heard a voice in his dreams, which told him the following: “Go to Arjona and take your mare with you. When you get there, ask for a man called Mohammed-ben-Yusuf, and when you find him, sell him the mare, because he will use her to conquer Jaén and other cities, and this conquest will bring great things for the generations to come”. He concluded that the man in question must be Alhamar, and so he set off for Arjona. At the castle mosque, he told Alhamar about his dream and the men agreed a price for the mare.  

One year later, Alhamar was crowned in his birthplace of Arjona and went on to conquer the city of Jaén, followed by Córdoba, Seville, Granada, Málaga, Almería and many others, and founded a dynasty and the Nasrid kingdom.