Castles kept invaders out — now Spain is using them to reel people in

The high walls of Molina de Aragón’s castle are as epic as the vast landscape in which they stand in Spain’s remote uplands. This week vultures were circling above as a fierce wind forced its few visitors to shield behind battlements.

Once upon a time the castle gave refuge to the daughters of El Cid, Spain’s famed medieval knight. The border fortification, on the old route between Castile and Valencia, was then in the hands of a Muslim ally of the Christian overlord. A prominent plaque on Molina’s town hall commemorates Abengalbon for “so generously” sheltering the damsels.

Since its earliest foundation in the Bronze Age, the castle site has offered its inhabitants protection against invaders. Now it is seen as a means of survival

Source link : https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/castles-are-king-in-rural-spains-plan-to-save-villages-0fw3gk92t

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Publish date : 2024-09-30 15:40:00

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