Castles or Palaces: Granada y Almería

On this tour, we come across three Renaissance castles built by Andalusian nobles in the opening years of the 16th Century.

Paradoxically, this was just when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had ordered some castles in Andalusia to be destroyed in order to chasten rebellious nobles. First is the castle of La Calahorra, built by the Marquess of Cenete, using Carrara marble for a courtyard in the style of Tuscan palaces.

The other castles are those of Cuevas del Almanzora and Vélez Blanco, put up by Pedro Fajardo, Marquess of los Vélez. At Cuevas there is a granary right by the palace and at Vélez the courtyard was lost to velvet-gloved plunder.

In all three cases, the powerful exterior aspect contrasts with refined interiors.

Besides these three castles, in this area we may see other Moorish fortresses: the castle at Gérgal, rebuilt after the Moors departed and in a good state of repair. The castles of Tahal and Orce, important bastions during the last phase of the War of Granada. And the ruins of the fortress of Guadix, dominating all the countryside and the fortress of Tabernas.