Castillo Melgarejo: A Late Medieval Castle in Spain
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Crown of Castile
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page4 sections
History
Castillo Melgarejo is a castle in Torre Melgarejo, Spain, about 11 kilometres northeast of Jerez de la Frontera. It dates to the Late Middle Ages, the later part of medieval European history. The Melgarejo family held the castle from 1606.
The castle is protected as a Spanish Asset of Cultural Interest, a formal heritage designation for cultural property. Its recorded declaration dates are 29 June 1985 and 22 June 1993. A substantial collapse occurred in 2018, followed by a controversial intervention authorized by the Andalusian regional government in 2019. The castle is privately owned.
Remains
The castle stands on the road to Arcos de la Frontera. Its principal elements are a tower on a mound, a curtain wall to its left, and a second tower beyond the wall.
The tower and mound
The main tower rises from the mound, with a square form that changes to an octagonal shape toward the top. Battlements crown it, while machicolations, openings through which defenders could attack below, survive at all four corners and on each of its four walls. Work on the mound uncovered burial goods that appear to date to the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, a prehistoric period when copper was used alongside stone tools.
The curtain wall and chapel
To the main tower’s left, a crenellated curtain wall, a defensive wall enclosing or connecting parts of a fortification, has alternating raised sections and gaps along its top. A wooden hoarding, a projecting defensive gallery, stands above the wall. Its main entrance has a pointed arch and bears the Melgarejo coat of arms. A vaulted tower, with a curved ceiling, lies to the left of the curtain wall and appears to have served as the enclosure’s chapel. A collapsed portion is covered with metal sheeting, and the castle is partly abandoned.
