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Fascinating historic centers, cobbled streets, castles ... The medieval legacy of the walled towns of our country is presented as an upward attraction: they are
treasures anchored in the past that immerse the visitor in history
.
We highlight ten of the best preserved.
Granadilla (Cáceres)
Granadilla, the old manor of Granada, is an old walled town of feudal origin located in the north of Cáceres. Founded by the Muslims in the 9th century, it served as a strategic bulwark in the area as it was an obligatory step on the Vía de la Plata. It became the capital of the region, known as Tierras de Granadilla, but in the 1960s it was occupied by the State and uninhabited as it was declared a "flood zone" due to the construction of the Gabriel y Galán reservoir.
Currently it remains under that catalog officially, despite the fact that the town has never been flooded, not even with the reservoir full.
.
In 1980 the town was declared a Historic-Artistic Site and four years later it was included in the Abandoned Villages Recovery Program, which has facilitated various recovery activities.
The emigrated people of Granada and their descendants meet twice a year in the town: in the Pilgrimage of the Virgen de Agosto and on the Day of the Dead.
Castellar de la Frontera (Cádiz)
Built on a rocky promontory, its magnificent castle overlooks the entire Bay and the Rock of Gibraltar.
Its origins date back to the Bronze Age (Cuevas del Cancho, Tajo and Abejera deposits) but it acquired its true identity with the Muslim conquest, when it was renamed Al-Qars.
Inside it preserves a marked medieval character, with a sinuous layout of clean and whitewashed streets
.
Its fortress, built between the 12th and 15th centuries, maintains a perfect state of conservation after being renovated.
In addition, inside the castle is one of the few examples that exist of an inhabited nucleus inside a fortification.
It is also considered the green lung of the region thanks to the Alcornocales Natural Park.
Frías (Burgos)
Strategic enclave since Roman times, it is mentioned for the first time in the second half of the 9th century as one of many towns that emerged in the first moments of the occupation of the Alto Ebro. Its name derives from
Aguas Fridas
, reduced to the second part of this denomination.
Its boom dates back to the times of Alfonso VIII, who chose it, repopulated it with a charter, and turned it into a commercial, road and defensive center
.
It maintains a medieval urban structure that crowns its imposing castle of the Dukes of Frías that crowns the Cerro de la Muela.
Their hanging houses, buildings with ground floor and two or three floors, some with a cellar, which lean on each other, shaping the different streets at two heights, also impact.
Alquézar (Huesca)
"The most beautiful town in Huesca". In this town, which was born in the shadow of a castle, they do not stop when it comes to praising its virtues:
The pearl of Somontano
is another of the nicknames for which it is known. Declared a Historic-Artistic Site, it owes its name to the building built to defend the access to Barbitania. Its hamlet extends at the foot of this fortification of Islamic origin, converted into the collegiate church of Santa María after the Christian Reconquest.
From the 11th century some sections of the wall survive, the albarrana tower, the ruins of a quadrangular tower and some fragment of the Romanesque church
, integrated into the impressive 14th century cloister. To enjoy one of the most beautiful views of the area, you have to go to the viewpoint
Smile of the Wind
.
Urueña (Valladolid)
Declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1975, it
has a 13th century walled complex that is the best preserved in the province
, offering visitors the appearance of a small medieval city.
The wall is attached, in the extreme southeast, to the castle, built in the 11th century on an old Roman fortress.
Outside the town, in the valley, the Romanesque hermitage of Nuestra Señora de la Anunciada is located.
From many places in its urban area, great panoramic views of its surrounding territory can be obtained, which has made it a privileged viewpoint of the landscape of Tierra de Campos.
On January 1, 2014 it became one of the
most beautiful towns in Spain
and since then the number of visitors has not stopped growing.
Besalú (Girona)
Game of Thrones
,
Westworld
or
Perfume
are some of the productions that have chosen this medieval jewel located at the entrance to La Garrotxa.
Center of power for centuries, it came to have its own currency.
Its famous Romanesque bridge transports the visitor directly to the Middle Ages
, a sensation that grows when one enters the Jewish quarter, with its sacred baths (
micvé
) in which the neighbors purified their bodies: women after menstruation and after giving birth and the men on Fridays before
Shabbat
.
The bathroom, attached to the synagogue, was discovered by accident in 1964, when a neighbor wanted to drill a well.
Daroca (Zaragoza)
According to some historians, its birth dates back to the Celtiberian village Darek. Later, the Romans called it Agiria, building a strong castle to defend the Via Laminitana, which passed through the town and connected Zaragoza with Valencia. The first documentary mention of the city dates from the year 837, as an important city of Al-Andalus. The Arabs gave it the name of Calat-Darawca and that is how it was named for 400 years, until
Alfonso I of Aragón
conquered it in 1120. In the 12th century,
Ramón Berenguer IV
granted it the privileges that made it the capital of the Community of Daroca. It was declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1931 and
Its narrow streets still reflect a splendid past, crossroads and border between kingdoms and regions, with an Arab, Jewish and Christian essence
.
Its more than four kilometers of walls is one of its great attractions, as are its churches: at the beginning of the 12th century it had ten parishes, of which seven still remain standing.
The Burgo de Osma (Soria)
This town is one of the one of the most rich cultural legacies of Soria. The City of Osma is the high medieval historical nucleus, while El Burgo de Osma is the neighboring town, declared a Villa of Tourist Interest in 1962 and a Historic-Artistic Complex in 1993. The wall encloses the medieval nucleus of Burgos. It was built by
Bishop Montoya
in 1458 considering the situation that Castile was going through at the time of
Enrique IV
, as the fortress of Osma was not considered sufficient defense for the town.
Its construction facilitated the work of collecting taxes on products that entered the population and was the protagonist of formal acts with a strong symbolic charge, such as the entry of the bishops who came to El Burgo to take possession.
.
Also noteworthy are its Calle Mayor, the 18th century Hospital de San Agustín and, above all, its Cathedral of Santa María de la Asunción, with Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassical touches.
Buitrago de Lozoya (Madrid)
The oldest historical references regarding Buitrago date from the 1st century BC (it would be the
Licabrum
conquered by
Gaius Flaminio
, according to
Tito Livio
), but there is no material trace to support it.
There are also no medieval vestiges prior to the Reconquest and therefore of the Muslim presence prior to the 11th century.
But its wall dates from that time, whose good degree of conversation has made the city known as
The Wall of Madrid
.
Located on a promontory on the banks of the Lozoya River, at the foot of Somosierra and 75 kilometers from Madrid, Buitrago is perfect for transporting yourself back centuries thanks to its towers, moats, the Castillo de los Mendoza, the Church of Santa María del Castillo , the Clock Tower or the Picasso Museum, in the square of the same name next to the Town Hall.
Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca)
The first human settlement in the area dates from the Bronze Age. The area was the domain of the vetons around the 6th century BC, from which the stone boar located outside its Parador Nacional survives. The three columns of a temple are preserved from Roman times, adopted since the Middle Ages as the heraldic emblem of the city. Its location, a crossroads with Salamanca to the Southwest, Cáceres to the South and the border with Portugal to the West, made it a nerve center for the war.
Invaded and rebuilt on numerous occasions, it would not be definitively repopulated until 1161 by Fernando II of León.
, as a bulwark against the Muslim enemy, as well as against the nascent Portuguese kingdom.
War and destruction remained present in subsequent centuries, with the Secession of Portugal or the War of Independence: after a bloody siege of several months it was conquered by
Napoleon's
army
, to later be liberated by
Lord Wellington
.
But its eagerness to preserve the past allowed it to be declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1944. Its walls, the Cathedral of Santa María, the Castle of Enrique II, the Chapel of Cerralbo and the Palace of the Marchioness of Cártago are a must-see.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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