Castles & Palaces
The Alhambra palace complex overlooking Granada at golden hour

44 historic sites

Castles in Spain

Spain's castles tell the story of a continent where Christian and Islamic civilisations clashed and created. From the sublime Moorish geometry of the Alhambra to the austere stone towers of Castile, Spain's fortresses are among Europe's most culturally significant.

The neoclassical facade of the Royal Palace of Madrid seen from the Plaza de la Armería with the Almudena Cathedral behind

spain · Community of Madrid

Royal Palace of Madrid

The largest royal palace in Western Europe — Bourbon grandeur in 3,418 rooms above the Manzanares valley

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The towers of Castillo de Gibralfaro above the port of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain

spain · Andalusia

Castillo de Gibralfaro

The Nasrid fortress that withstood a three-month siege, and the finest viewpoint above Málaga

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The austere grey granite facade of El Escorial with the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains rising behind under a dramatic sky
UNESCO

spain · Community of Madrid

El Escorial

Philip II's 'eighth wonder of the world' — austere Renaissance grandeur in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama

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The Royal Palace of Olite's dense cluster of Gothic towers rising above the Navarrese plain

spain · Navarre

Royal Palace of Olite

Twenty-three towers and a king's obsession with the French court — the most extravagant Gothic palace in Spain

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Almodóvar Castle's nine towers crowning a hill above the Guadalquivir valley in Andalusia, Spain

spain · Andalusia

Almodóvar Castle

Nine towers above the Guadalquivir, rebuilt as a romantic vision of the Moorish frontier

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The Alcazaba of Almería's Umayyad fortress walls and reconstructed gardens overlooking the city and the Mediterranean coast

spain · Andalusia

Alcazaba of Almería

Spain's most overlooked Umayyad fortress, larger than the Alhambra and far less crowded

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The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos in Córdoba, Andalusia — towers and terraced Moorish gardens of the Catholic Monarchs' fortress-palace beside the Guadalquivir
UNESCO

spain · Andalusia

Alcázar of the Christian Monarchs

The fortress where Columbus first proposed his voyage to the New World — built on the foundations of a caliph's palace, seat of the Inquisition, prison for five centuries

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The Aranjuez Royal Palace on the banks of the Tajo River — the Spanish crown's Baroque spring residence and UNESCO World Heritage Site, 45 minutes south of Madrid
UNESCO

spain · Community of Madrid

Aranjuez Royal Palace

Spain's royal spring residence and UNESCO cultural landscape — Philip II's riverside palace with the Porcelain Room, Bourbon staterooms, and the setting of the 1808 mutiny that triggered the Peninsular War

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Xàtiva Castle's twin fortifications on the limestone ridge above the town of Xàtiva, Valencia, with the plain stretching toward the Mediterranean below

spain · Valencia Community

Xàtiva Castle

Two thousand years of Iberian, Roman, Moorish and Christian history — and a portrait of Philip V that has hung upside down for over 300 years

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Castillo de Javier in Navarre, Spain — the medieval hilltop castle where Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Jesuit order and first Christian missionary to Japan, was born in 1506

spain · Navarre

Castillo de Javier

The birthplace of the man who took Catholicism from Navarre to Japan — Castillo de Javier is where Francis Xavier was born in 1506, and its restored medieval tower is the starting point of a missionary journey that crossed most of the known world before ending alone on a Chinese island forty-six years later

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The semicircular towers and curtain wall of Baños de la Encina Castle above the olive groves of Jaén province

spain · Andalusia

Baños de la Encina Castle

Spain's best-preserved Moorish military castle, dated by its own 968 AD foundation inscription

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Palau March (March Palace) in Palma de Mallorca — the outdoor sculpture terrace with works by Rodin, Moore, Hepworth, and Chillida overlooking the bay, commissioned by the Bartolomé March family

spain · Balearic Islands (Mallorca)

March Palace

The most provocative sculpture garden in Spain — Palau March's open terrace above the Palma waterfront puts Rodin's The Kiss alongside Moore, Hepworth, and Chillida in the open air, and the banking fortune behind it came from one of 20th-century Spain's most controversial financiers

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The Gandia Ducal Palace (Palau Ducal dels Borja) in Gandia, Valencia — the Gothic-origin palace of the Borgia family, birthplace of Saint Francis Borgia and home to the Baroque Golden Gallery

spain · Valencian Community

Gandia Ducal Palace

The Borgia family's Valencian seat — where the most scandalous dynasty of the Renaissance produced, in the same rooms, a saint who renounced it all to join the Jesuits

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La Mola, Fortress Isabel II on the headland above Menorca's Port of Mahón — the 19th-century Spanish military fortification built to stop British seizure of the island's strategic harbour

spain · Balearic Islands

La Mola, Isabel II Fortress

A 27-year construction project to stop the British from taking Menorca again — the island's greatest military monument, with 48 riflemen's casemates, underground powder magazines, and guns that could reach 35km out to sea

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Palacio Domecq in Jerez de la Frontera — the 18th-century Baroque townhouse of the Domecq sherry dynasty, with its ornate stucco courtyard in the heart of Jerez's historic centre

spain · Andalusia

Palacio Domecq

Where sherry-trade wealth built a Baroque palace — the Domecq family home at the heart of Jerez, 45 minutes of ornate courtyard and aristocratic interior in the city that put sherry on the world's dining tables

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Florejacs Castle in the Segarra, inland Catalonia — a medieval tower and mansion held by the same family for nearly a thousand years, overlooking the rolling wheat fields of Lleida province

spain · Catalonia

Florejacs Castle

A Catalan castle held by the same family for nearly a thousand years — still a private home, its rooms accumulated across generations rather than curated for display

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The Court of the Lions in the Nasrid Palaces of the Alhambra, Granada, with its famous 12-lion marble fountain
UNESCO

spain · Andalusia

Alhambra

The finest Islamic palace in the world, carved in light and water

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Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza — the 1065 Taifa palace of Al-Muqtadir, the northernmost Muslim palace in Europe, with its interlaced arch throne room and the Catholic Monarchs' coffered ceiling

spain · Aragon — Zaragoza, capital of Aragon

Aljafería Palace

The northernmost Muslim palace ever built in Europe — later the seat of the Kingdom of Aragon's court, then the Inquisition, then a military barracks

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Alcazaba de Málaga — the 11th-century Moorish palace-fortress on the slopes of Monte Gibralfaro, with garden courtyards and defensive towers above the city centre

spain · Andalusia, Málaga

Alcazaba de Málaga

Spain's most complete Moorish palace-fortress after the Alhambra — Nasrid gardens and defensive walls at the foot of Gibralfaro

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Alcázar of Jerez — the 11th-century Almohad fortress with the mosque, Arab baths, and Islamic gardens at the centre of Jerez de la Frontera in the sherry wine region of Cádiz

spain · Andalusia, Cádiz Province — Jerez de la Frontera, historic centre

Alcázar of Jerez

An 11th-century Almohad fortress with a working mosque, Arab baths, and Islamic gardens — in the heart of sherry country

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The Alcázar of Segovia on its rocky prow with the Castilian plain behind it at golden hour
UNESCO

spain · Castile and León

Alcázar of Segovia

The castle that inspired Disney's Cinderella — rising from a rocky prow above the plains of Castile

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Bellver Castle's perfectly circular Gothic form rising from pine-forested hillside above Palma de Mallorca, with the Bay of Palma shimmering in the distance

spain · Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Bellver Castle

Europe's most extraordinary circular castle — a Gothic masterpiece perched above Palma de Mallorca with panoramic views over the Bay of Palma

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Las Dueñas Palace main patio — the arcaded Ionic courtyard of Seville's Ducal palace with Mudéjar tiles and garden, still inhabited by the House of Alba

spain · Andalusia, Seville — historic centre, Macarena/Alfalfa area

Las Dueñas Palace

The private Renaissance palace of the Dukes of Alba — still home to a noble family and famously the birthplace of the poet Antonio Machado

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Manzanares el Real Castle's ornate Late Gothic towers reflected in the Santillana reservoir, with the dramatic granite peaks of La Pedriza rising behind

spain · Community of Madrid

Manzanares el Real Castle

Madrid's most beautiful castle — a perfectly preserved Late Gothic fortress at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, reflected in the Santillana reservoir

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Montjuïc Castle's star-shaped bastions overlooking the port of Barcelona and the Mediterranean coast, with the city's skyline and distant hills beyond

spain · Catalonia

Montjuïc Castle

The fortress that watched over Barcelona for 400 years — a star-shaped castle with panoramic views from the port to the Pyrenees, now a symbol of the city's freedom

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Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso — Philip V's French Baroque palace in the Sierra de Guadarrama, with Baroque fountain sculpture in the formal gardens, Segovia, Spain

spain · Castile and León, Segovia — 11km south of Segovia city

Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso

Philip V's answer to Versailles — 26 monumental Baroque fountains in the Sierra de Guadarrama foothills, 11km from Segovia

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Santa Bárbara Castle's medieval walls and towers rising above Alicante city and the Mediterranean coast, with Postiguet beach glinting in the afternoon sun below

spain · Alicante, Valencian Community

Santa Bárbara Castle

Free and unmissable — the iconic fortress above Alicante with 360-degree Mediterranean views and 1,200 years of history on the Costa Blanca

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Palacio de Viana in Córdoba — one of the 12 Andalusian courtyards of the palace, with whitewashed walls, wrought-iron rejas, and geranium-covered columns in the Córdoba patio tradition

spain · Andalusia, Córdoba — historic centre, north of the Mosque-Cathedral

Palace of Viana

Twelve Andalusian courtyards across five centuries — and the living embodiment of Córdoba's UNESCO patio culture

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The Alcázar of Toledo seen from across the Tagus River gorge, its four Renaissance towers rising above the medieval rooftops of the city
UNESCO

spain · Castile-La Mancha

Alcázar of Toledo

Toledo's impregnable hilltop fortress — from Roman praetorium to the most contested building of the Spanish Civil War

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The courtyard of the Alcázar of Seville with its Mudéjar arches and reflecting pool, surrounded by orange trees
UNESCO

spain · Andalusia

Alcázar of Seville

A living Moorish palace — still the Spanish royal residence in Seville after 1,100 years

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Belmonte Castle's six towers and Late Gothic battlements rising dramatically from the flat golden Manchegan meseta on a clear spring afternoon

spain · Castilla-La Mancha

Belmonte Castle

A perfectly preserved Late Gothic masterpiece in the empty Manchegan meseta — the castle that shaped the country of Don Quixote

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Cardona Castle rising above the Cardoner valley in Catalonia, Spain

spain · Catalonia, Bages

Cardona Castle

A Carolingian fortress and Romanesque jewel rising above the salt mountains

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Castillo de Luna above Alburquerque in Extremadura — the 13th-century frontier fortress on the Spain-Portugal border with its rectangular keep and the medieval Villa Adentro within the outer walls

spain · Extremadura

Castillo de Luna

One of Extremadura's best-preserved frontier fortresses — a 13th-century castle on the Spain-Portugal border with a walled medieval town inside its outer walls, accessible on a 3-hour guided tour (Spanish only)

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Castle of Ponferrada rising above the confluence of the Sil and Boeza rivers, the Knights Templar fortress with its clock tower and battlemented walls

spain · Castilla y León

Castle of Ponferrada

The largest fortress built by the Knights Templar in Spain — a Camino de Santiago landmark in the heart of the Bierzo valley

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Castillo de Colomares in Benalmádena, Málaga province — a 20th-century monument to Christopher Columbus built 1987–1994 combining Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Mudejar, and Renaissance architectural styles, housing the world's smallest church

spain · Andalusia / Málaga Province

Colomares Castle

The world's smallest church inside a castle built in 1987 — the Colomares monument in Benalmádena is not a medieval fortification but a personal tribute to Columbus, blending five architectural styles and housing a Guinness-record-holding 2-square-metre chapel

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Fortaleza de la Mota at Alcalá la Real in Jaén province — the Nasrid-period Islamic fortified city on a limestone hilltop, with the Torre de la Vela and the ruined Abbey Church of Santo Domingo visible within the preserved medina walls

spain · Andalusia

Fortaleza de la Mota

A complete Nasrid-period fortified city on a Jaén hilltop — walled medina, towers, and a ruined abbey, strategically positioned between Granada's emirate and the Christian kingdoms; unique private day tour max 2 persons

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Guadalest Castle and fortified village on a limestone rock pinnacle above the turquoise Guadalest Reservoir in Alicante province, Spain — the medieval Moorish fortress taken by Jaime I of Aragon in 1258, damaged by the 1748 earthquake, and now one of Spain's most visited villages

spain · Valencian Community / Alicante Province

Guadalest Castle

One million visitors a year to a village of 200 people — Guadalest's medieval Moorish fortress on a rock pinnacle above the most popular day-trip reservoir in Alicante province

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Peñafiel Castle — the elongated ship-shaped medieval fortress above the town of Peñafiel in the Ribera del Duero wine region, Castile and León, Spain

spain · Castile and León, Valladolid province, Ribera del Duero

Peñafiel Castle

A ship-shaped fortress on a ridge above the Ribera del Duero — the medieval keep is now a wine museum, and the view explains why every army in medieval Castile wanted this rock

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Peñíscola Castle's Knights Templar walls rising from the golden limestone promontory above the whitewashed old town, with the blue Mediterranean stretching to the horizon

spain · Comunitat Valenciana

Peñíscola Castle

The 'City of the Sea' — a Knights Templar fortress crowning a rocky peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean, once home to an Antipope

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Sagunto Castle on the limestone ridge above Sagunto — the 7-hectare multi-period fortress where Hannibal's 219 BC siege of Saguntum triggered the Second Punic War, 25km from Valencia

spain · Valencian Community, Valencia Province — Sagunto, 25km north of Valencia

Sagunto Castle

25 kilometres from Valencia: 2,300 years of civilisation on one ridge — Iberian, Roman, Moorish, and medieval walls in a single castle walk

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Ulldecona Castle on the limestone promontory above the Terres de l'Ebre — the 10th-century Moorish fortress near the Ebro Delta with panoramic views over the Montsià plain

spain · Catalonia, Terres de l'Ebre — Ulldecona, Montsià, Ebro Delta hinterland

Ulldecona Castle

A Moorish fortress, millenary olive trees, and UNESCO Levantine cave paintings — three sites in one day in the Terres de l'Ebre

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Castle of Alcaudete on its limestone hilltop above the olive groves of Jaén province — the frontier fortress of the Order of Calatrava, with the Torre del Homenaje and defensive walls spanning Caliphate, Almohad, and Christian military-order periods

spain · Andalusia

Castle of Alcaudete

A frontier castle of the Order of Calatrava — the hilltop fortress above Alcaudete that passed between the Islamic caliphate and Castilian Christian control in the medieval Reconquista, in the heart of Jaén's olive country

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Castillo de Santa Catalina above Jaén, Andalusia — the reconquest castle's towers and walls on the cerro, with the olive oil landscape of the Province of Jaén extending to the horizon

spain · Jaén, Province of Jaén, Andalusia

Santa Catalina Castle

Fernando III's reconquest castle above Jaén — 940 metres above Spain's olive oil capital, with views over five million trees

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Castle of Láchar — the Belle Époque Neo-Nasrid courtyard above the Vega de Granada, 20 kilometres from the Alhambra

spain · Andalusia (Granada province, Vega de Granada)

Castle of Láchar

A Nasrid watchtower rebuilt as a Belle Époque Alhambra — Granada's overlooked gem 20 kilometres from the real thing

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