Castle of Castrillo de Villavega: A Medieval Defensive Fortress in Spain
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Kingdom of Asturias, Kingdom of León
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page9 sections
History
Castle of Castrillo de Villavega is a medieval fortress in Spain, built during the Christian repopulation of the Valdavia valley in the late ninth or early tenth century. It occupied a strategic position beside the Valdavia River, where ancient routes crossed, and served as an advanced defence for Agüero Castle at Buenavista de Valdavia.
Ancient routes and Christian repopulation
The settlement stands in an area associated with Vaccean remains and two Roman roads. One route linked Osorno la Mayor and Saldaña, crossed the Valdavia at the foot of the settlement, and continued toward Itero Seco. Another followed the river valley toward La Peña before intersecting the first route in the present town centre.
During the Christian repopulation directed from the Castle of Saldaña through Agüero Castle, the fortress protected foramontanos, settlers who moved south from the Cantabrian Mountains into northern Iberian valleys. It also secured the ford at Villavega de Castrillo and defended Agüero Castle from attacks approaching from the south.
Construction took place during the reigns associated with Alfonso III of Asturias and his grandson Ramiro II of León. Alfonso III is linked with the resettlement of Mozarabs, Christians who lived under Muslim rule while retaining their religion and cultural traditions. Ramiro II’s victory at the Battle of Simancas helped push the Muslim threat farther south and enabled the area’s definitive repopulation.
Ownership and feudal transformation
The earliest known reference to the castle and to the settlement’s present name appears in Alfonso VIII’s first testament, issued in 1204. It ordered the Castle of Villavega to be delivered to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, a medieval military-religious order that held and defended fortifications and routes.
On 26 April 1279, Alfonso X granted the castle to Juana Gómez de Manzanedo and her son Luis. Juana, the daughter of Gómez Rodríguez de Manzanedo and Mencía Pérez, had been widowed by 1275 after the death of the infante Luis of Castile, son of Fernando II.
After Juana’s daughter Berenguela died without descendants, Juana donated Castrillo and its fortified house to her niece Mencía de Manzanedo on 21 July 1305. Mencía was the daughter of Gonzalo de Manzanedo and the wife of Arias González de Cisneros. The fortified house included accommodation for its alcaide, the officer who commanded and administered the castle, as well as ditches, barbicans, and drawbridges.
Arias González de Cisneros and Mencía de Manzanedo were the parents of Juan Rodríguez de Cisneros, adelantado mayor of León, a senior royal representative in the kingdom. Through their descendants, including Mencía de Cisneros, Leonor de la Vega, and the poet Marqués de Santillana, the lordship passed in 1514 to the lineage of the Dukes of the Infantado.
Deterioration and later protection
By the fifteenth century, the fortress had deteriorated as the Muslim threat receded and the feudal system declined. In 1832, regularly cut limestone blocks from the castle were reused to build the parish tower because suitable stone was difficult to obtain locally. The castle is now in ruins, with only a stump-like remnant surviving.
The castle has generic protection under Spain’s decree of 22 April 1949 concerning the protection of castles and under Law 16/1985 on Spanish Historical Heritage. It is also listed as a heritage site on the Red List of Heritage. The municipality of Castrillo de Villavega is identified as its owner.
Remains
Mound and keep
The surviving remains occupy a mound about 20 metres square. The castle was arranged around a large keep, the principal fortified tower, within a concrete enclosure. The mound’s lower section consists of rammed earth, while the upper wall sections were formed from rounded stones and mud.
Keep
The rectangular keep had internal dimensions of approximately 6.30 by 6.70 metres. Part of its southwest wall remains, and the northwest wall survives complete. One corner is missing from the northeast wall, while the southeast side has almost disappeared apart from its southern corner.
The surviving walls are approximately 1.3 metres thick and were built with lime mortar and rounded stone. Their original facing of white limestone ashlar, made from regularly cut blocks, no longer survives because the material was removed and reused in the parish tower in 1832.
Tunnel through the mound
A tunnel with a slightly pointed profile passes through the rammed-earth mound from one side to the other. Its position within the surviving earthwork forms part of the remaining evidence for the castle’s construction and internal arrangement.
Southern defensive barrier
On the southern side of the mound are remains of a substantial solid-concrete barrier about two metres thick and several metres high. It probably enclosed the base of the mound, while the eastern side relied on the natural slope and the Valdavia River as defensive barriers.
The upper part of the barrier was probably reinforced with a palisade made from wood, adobe, or lime and rounded stone. Together with the mound, keep, and surviving earthwork, this barrier preserves the defensive structure of the ruined fortress.
