Castillo de La Villeta: The Historic Fortress of Monda, Spain
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Almohad, Nasrid
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page8 sections
History
Castillo de La Villeta, also known as Castillo de Monda, is the surviving remains of a Muslim fortification in Monda, Spain, whose principal fortress was established by the Almohads in the twelfth century. The site occupies a limestone promontory more than 300 metres above sea level and preserves evidence of successive Islamic defensive and settlement phases, followed by destruction after the Christian conquest.
Early refuge and Almohad foundation
The hill was first occupied during the ninth or tenth century as a hisn, an Arabic fortified stronghold or refuge, associated with the revolt of Omar ben Hafsún. He was a prominent leader who challenged the Umayyad emirate of Córdoba, the Muslim government that ruled much of al-Andalus. After Abderramán III defeated the revolt and a period of peace followed, the hill was abandoned.
Occupation resumed in the twelfth century under the Almohads, a North African Berber Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of al-Andalus. They established the principal fortress on the summit. From this period onward, settlement became concentrated on the northern slope, where an alquería, or rural Islamic village, developed with almost one hundred houses.
Nasrid reorganization
After the Almohads fell and the Christian frontier advanced, the Nasrid dynasty reorganized and strengthened the fortress. The Nasrids ruled the Kingdom of Granada, the last major Muslim state in the Iberian Peninsula before the Christian conquest. Their work included changes connected with the early use of gunpowder artillery, known as pirobalistics, in warfare.
The principal enclosure was arranged in two sectors. The western sector was an albacar, an enclosed defensive area intended to shelter people and livestock, while the eastern sector was a celoquia, the more strongly fortified upper or principal part of a castle. During the Nasrid period, both sectors were reconfigured, with masonry added to their towers and walls. The northern settlement was also enclosed by a large defensive wall that followed the uneven ground.
Christian conquest and dismantling
Monda surrendered after the Christian conquest of Ronda in the late fifteenth century. Christian troops occupied the fortress for several years. It was then dismantled, as were many fortresses in the former Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, to reduce the possibility of uprisings by the subjected Mudéjar population. Mudéjars were Muslims who remained under Christian rule after the conquest of Muslim territories.
No written documentation for Castillo de La Villeta is known from before its capture by Christian forces. The 1572 Book of Survey and Redistribution described the condition of the fortress and village after their destruction. Brief references and drawings from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries provide further evidence of the site’s later condition.
Archaeology, restoration, and protection
Initial archaeological and historical studies took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Restoration begun in the 1970s stopped late in that decade because of circumstances affecting its promoter. Several construction structures were left on the summit, detracting from the surviving ensemble.
An emergency excavation was carried out between 1989 and 1991 before construction of the El Castillo de Monda hotel. The excavation demonstrated the importance of the archaeological remains, but the hotel project proceeded without incorporating them or presenting the other surviving elements, including the towers, walls, and cistern. The former fortress now functions as a four-star boutique hotel.
Castillo de La Villeta is protected under the generic declaration established by the decree of 22 April 1949 and Spain’s Historical Heritage Law 16/1985. It was declared a cultural-interest property in 1985 and added to the Red List of Endangered Heritage in 2018.
Remains
The fortress enclosure
The archaeological remains occupy a limestone promontory rising more than 300 metres above sea level. The principal Almohad enclosure was divided between the western albacar and eastern celoquia. Towers and a cistern formed part of this defensive complex, while later Nasrid work altered the masonry of both the towers and enclosing walls.
The northern side was protected by a large wall surrounding the old village. It followed the irregular terrain for more than 300 metres and included several towers and at least one entrance. The wall is now severely deteriorated. Together with the fortress towers and cistern, it forms part of the surviving archaeological ensemble associated with the former settlement.
The polygonal tower
A polygonal tower stands at the western angle of the enclosure. It is an unusual feature, with only two such towers known in Málaga Province, at La Villeta and Castillo de Bentomiz. Its lower plinth consists of roughly dressed stone masonry, while the upper part was built in rammed earth, a material made by compacting earth in layers.
Parts of the tower’s plaster coating survive, including decoration in the form of “cords of eternity.” During the Nasrid period, the earlier tower was enclosed within a square masonry structure. The complex was also reinforced with a semicircular projecting base, leaving the tower in a form shaped by successive defensive adaptations.
