Macías el Enamorado castle

Macías el Enamorado castle is famous, not for the war exploits that took place there, but because Macías el Enamorado was imprisoned and murdered in its keep, and his love affairs inspired the works of Lope de Vega y Larra.

The tower, of Christian style and built in the 13th century, made of ashlar with regular chains, small in size and with a proportionate structure, sits on a rock plinth with a quadrangular floor plan. It has three floors and a height of up to 17 metres and from it you can see the countryside and the clay quarries of Albarrá. Two of the three preserved sections of the castle wall converge at the tower, on the south-east side of which a brick door with a pointed arch was opened. In 1434, Juan II forced the Calatrava inhabitants to live in the castle and rebuild it.

Once it was no longer used as a defensive structure, the south wall was demolished in the 17th century to be used as a courtyard for the home of the Marquis of la Merced, and at the beginning of the 20th century it became municipal property.

Macías el Enamorado castle was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1985.

For several years now, the Medieval Festival of Macías el Enamorado is celebrated at the foot of the castle at the end of September or beginning of October, as a way of returning to medieval times, at least for a few days.