Belmonte Castle

Phone: 690203076 / 967170741 (Oficina turismo)

Email: aytobelmonte@belmonte.e.tel...

Website: perso.wanadoo.es/belmo...

Type of monument

Forts

History

In 1857, Eugenia de Montijo commissioned the Frenchman Sureda to restore, however the restoration was only partial as the work was interrupted in 1872.

Period

1456-1550

Art style

Gothic-Mudejar-plateresque and Gothic-Arabic

How to get there

Road transport

Belmonte Castle is built on the site of a previous building built in 1324. The existing building was erected by Juan Pacheco, Marquis de Villena, between 1456 and 1470. It is in the Gothic-Mudejar-plateresque and Gothic-Arabic styles and has two enclosures.

The exterior is pentagon shaped, and joined to walls that go down towards the town; on the side with the exterior door, it has a Gothic porch and lateral balustrade, and more or less at the opposite extreme of the enclosure there is another door, or false door, also with a balustrade, that links the Castle to the town.

The interior enclosure is the real castle, made of three rectangular bodies attached at the corners, leaving a triangular interior space, with two buildings and the keep; each side is reinforced with a circular tower, six in total.

The inside of the enclosure, like the outside, retains in the rooms, galleries, chapel, arches etc.... original work and 19th century neo-gothic renovations.

Some traces remain of the drawbridge and the moat that must have been there.

Belmonte also retains an impressive defensive enclosure made up of the castle and walls and gates.

Timetables

Monday to Sunday 10am to 1:30pm and 3:30pm to 5:30pm. (October to March) or 4:30pm to 7:30pm (April to September)
Closed: 1st January and 25th December.

Fees

Admission: €2
Concessions: €1

Services

Belmonte Tourist Information Office. Guided Tours available by prior arrangement.