61 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.
spain · Andalusia
Alhambra
The finest Islamic palace in the world, carved in light and water
spain · Andalusia
Alcázar of Seville
A living Moorish palace — still the Spanish royal residence in Seville after 1,100 years
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
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
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
spain · Castile and León
Alcázar of Segovia
The castle that inspired Disney's Cinderella — rising from a rocky prow above the plains of Castile
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
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
spain · Girona Province — Costa Brava, Tossa de Mar, Catalonia
Castell de Tossa de Mar
The sole surviving fortified medieval town on the Catalan coast — Marc Chagall's 'blue paradise', where 13th-century walls and towers rise above the Mediterranean between two perfect beaches
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
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
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
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
spain · Andalusia
Castillo de Gibralfaro
The Nasrid fortress that withstood a three-month siege, and the finest viewpoint above Málaga
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
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
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
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
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
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
spain · Andalusia — Seville, Santa Cruz / El Arenal historic districts
Casa de Pilatos
A living Mudéjar-Renaissance palace still owned by the Dukes of Medinaceli — Seville's most intimate great house
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
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
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
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
spain · Andalusia
Alcazaba of Almería
Spain's most overlooked Umayyad fortress, larger than the Alhambra and far less crowded
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
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
spain · Catalonia, Bages
Cardona Castle
A Carolingian fortress and Romanesque jewel rising above the salt mountains
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
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
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
spain · Andalusia
Almodóvar Castle
Nine towers above the Guadalquivir, rebuilt as a romantic vision of the Moorish frontier
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
spain · Valencia — Alicante Province, Marina Alta comarca, town of Dénia
Denia Castle
Roman, Islamic, and medieval layers above the Costa Blanca port — 2,500 years of history and 4.9★ Segway tours with sea views
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
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
spain · Comunitat Valenciana — Castellón Province, Els Ports comarca, walled hilltop city of Morella
Morella Castle
Spain's greatest walled hilltop city — a Reconquista castle rising 1,072 metres above the Maestrazgo plain, still encircled by its original medieval walls
spain · Andalusia — Málaga Province, historic city of Ronda, above the El Tajo gorge
Palace of Mondragón
Ronda's oldest palace above the Tajo gorge — a Moorish governor's residence turned Mudéjar-Renaissance courtyard and city museum
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
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
spain · Valencian Community — Alicante Province, Elche (Elx) historic centre
Altamira Palace
The medieval palace at the heart of the Elche mystery — home of the Lady of Elche, the ancient Iberian sphinx-bust whose origins are still debated, and the MAHE museum that holds the secrets of this Palm Grove city
spain · Catalonia — Tarragona Province, Ribera d'Ebre comarca, village of Miravet on the Ebro
Miravet Castle
The Knights Templar's last Iberian stronghold — a cliff-top Romanesque fortress above the Ebro with audio guide and VR experience
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
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
spain · Castile and León — Salamanca, historic centre, adjacent to the Casa de las Conchas and the Clerecía
Monterrey Palace
The unfinished Plateresque masterpiece of Salamanca — a 1539 palace whose single completed wing, with its ornate roofline crestería and corner towers, is considered the finest secular Renaissance architecture in Spain and one of the great buildings of the House of Alba
spain · Andalusia
Baños de la Encina Castle
Spain's best-preserved Moorish military castle, dated by its own 968 AD foundation inscription
spain · Catalonia — Siurana, Municipality of Cornudella de Montsant, Priorat comarca, Province of Tarragona
Siurana Castle
The last Moorish stronghold in Catalonia — dramatic cliff-edge fortress ruins above the Priorat gorge, surrounded by world-class sport climbing and the finest wine terroir in Catalonia
spain · Andalusia — Córdoba Province, Los Pedroches comarca, town of Belmez
Belmez Castle
Moorish tower on a quartzite rock above the Sierra Morena — best visited as part of the full-day Córdoba excursion with Belalcázar
spain · Valencian Community — Alicante Province, Elche (Elx) historic centre
Calahorra Tower
Elche's oldest monument — a 12th-century Almohad tower that is all that survives of the Islamic city walls of Yilliq, standing in the shadow of the city's medieval Christian quarter
spain · Andalusia, Úbeda, Jaén province
Palacio Vela de los Cobos
One of the finest Renaissance palaces in a UNESCO World Heritage town — the arcaded loggia above the street and a private historic library that rivals any in Andalusia
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
spain · Andalusia — Córdoba Province, Los Pedroches comarca, town of Belalcázar
Belalcázar Castle
One of Andalusia's tallest medieval towers — the Sotomayor family's 50-metre Gothic keep rising above the Los Pedroches plateau
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)
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
spain · Community of Madrid — Madrid, Argüelles neighbourhood, Ciudad Universitaria district
Liria Palace
The House of Alba's Madrid palace — a private art trove of Goya, Rubens, and Titian rebuilt after Civil War destruction, where Columbus's will is kept alongside portraits of the Duchess who inspired Goya's most famous works
spain · Catalonia — Lleida Province, La Noguera comarca, near Artesa de Segre
Montsonís Castle
Best-preserved 11th-century castle complex in inland Catalonia — all interior rooms open on guided tours
spain · Melilla (autonomous city)
Melilla Fortress
A complete Spanish walled city on the North African coast — 500 years of fortification layered over Phoenician, Roman, and Arab foundations, on the hill that Spain has held since 1497
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
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
spain · Catalonia — Segarra, Lleida province, hamlet of Les Sitges, Torrefeta i Florejacs municipality
Castell de les Sitges
Nearly 900 years of unbroken family ownership — a Romanesque frontier castle opened to the public for the first time in ten centuries