Pilas Bonas Castle, Manzanares

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Pilas Bonas Castle is declared a Monument of Special Historic and Artistic Interest, it is found in the Plaza de San Blas, in Manzanares, a place with all the charm of a sturdy Manchegan town. It is a fortress, restored for the travellers enjoyment, located in an ideal strategic point for discovering the famed Don Quijote Route.

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Contact address for Pilas Bonas Castle

Plaza de San Blas, 13200
Manzanares (Ciudad Real)

Phone: 926 647 196

Fax: 926647196

Email: pilasbonas@pilasbonas.com

Website: www.pilasbonas.com

Location

Located in Manzanares, in the Plaza de San Blas.

Type of monument: Forts

Period: 1199 -1207

Surroundings: Manzanares is a crossroads at the heart of La Mancha, a welcoming and prosperous area that is a gateway to the land of Don Quixote.

How to get there: Road transport

Various historians agree that the castle was probably built around 1239, following the dividing lines of the territories of the Santiago and Calatrava Orders.

The Calatrava Order established the Seat of the Encomienda de Manzanares in Pilas Bonas Castle. Between 1808 and 1812 it was used as a barracks by French troops in the War of Independence, and in 1836 it was a fortified barracks for the Liberal (or Cristino) army that fought in the Carlist War.

Pilas Bonas Castle has been hidden in the urban centre of Manzanares for more than a century. After the 19th century dissolution its robust walls and many of the ancient buildings were put to domestic use.

A hotel firm has managed to recover a significant part of the Castle turning it into a welcoming hotel and giving Manzanares back its most emblematic and oldest building.