Baños Castle

Baños Castle is located in Baños de la Encina, in the province of Jaén. It is an Umayyad fortress, built in the 10th century and situated on a small hill in the town.

It is flanked by a robust, crenellated wall with fourteen towers, plus one, the fifteenth, denominated the "Torre Cristiana del Homenaje". The castle, has suffered very little damage. It is, therefore, the best preserved fortified complex from the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba, whilst remaining, at the same time, one of the best preserved Muslim castles in Spain. Its incalculable historic and artistic value, is the reason why this castle came to be classified as a National Monument 1931 and a Historic-Artistic Site in 1969.

Baños Castle is also known as the “fortress of the seven kings", as the following kings spent more or less time there, Alfonso VII, Alfonso VIII, Alfonso IX, Pedro II, Sancho VII, Fernando III and Fernando II (known as the Catholic King). It is the second oldest castle in Europe, and since 1969, it has had the privilege of flying the flag of the European Community from the "Torre del Homenaje", a privilege granted by the Council of Europe, and shared only with the Castle of Florence.