Castillo de Albanchez de Mágina

Av. de Hutar, 2, 23538 Albanchez de Mágina, Jaén, España. 23538, Albanchez de Mágina How to get

The castle of Albanchez de Mágina dominates and presides over the town, perched on the first cliff of the Sierra de los Castillejos. Despite its small size and narrow interior, its rugged position makes it extremely difficult to access. Of presumably Christian origin, its construction was done with mortar and it had to be raised late, in the late Middle Ages, at the beginning of the 14th century, as an alternative to another Muslim castle of which there are hardly any remains, built with mud in the lower and closer part to town.

The castle was linked to the Order of Santiago, which created the encomienda of Bedmar and Albanchez. What remains of it is its alcazarejo, built with masonry, which consists of two small nuclei that are impressive due to their external appearance and the enclosure of the rock on which it sits, but with little internal capacity to house troops and belongings. The highest core is a narrow rectangular platform that provides a small interior space. The entrance opens onto the terrace of a rectangular tower that housed two chambers: an upper one, covered with a half-barrel vault, today demolished, and a lower one, a cistern, with a slightly pointed vault and remains of the stucco that covered it. The castle also had a small triangular parapet with a crenellated parapet and loopholes windows, a square terrace with albarrana to defend on the precipice, protective walls, today practically destroyed, and exterior rounded corners as befits a Calatrava castle. Asset of Cultural Interest in 1985.