The Castle of Cardona is a medieval fortress in Catalonia, Spain. Situated on a hill overlooking the river valley of the Cardener and the town of Cardona, it was initially constructed by Wilfred the Hairy in 886. It is now a hotel belonging to the state-owned Paradores chain.
During the 14th century, the dukes of Cardona, second only to the royal house itself, came from the most important family related to the Crown of Aragon. They were called "kings without crowns" because they had extensive territories in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia, and dynastic ties with Castile, Portugal, Sicily, and Naples. This presumably increased the importance of the castle. In 1714, even after a Bourbon siege destroyed a good part of the castle's walls, the garrison was one of the last to surrender to the Bourbon troops which supported Philip V.
The castle's architecture features both the Romanesque and Gothic styles. Its main jewel is the 11th-century Torre de la Minyona ('maiden's tower'), a tower which measures 15 metres (49 ft) in height and 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter. The church of Sant Vicenç, adjacent to the fort proper, is in the Lombard Romanesque style.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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