Crumbling Tower at Jadraque Castle

Jadraque Castle, also known as the Castle of Cid, is a historic fortress located in the town of Jadraque, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It sits atop a hill overlooking the Henares river plain and boasts a rectangular structure enclosed by four round towers and one rectangular tower. Archaeological investigations have revealed that the site has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with the castle later serving as a fortification for the emirate of Spain and its Moorish descendants during the Middle Ages.

In 1085, it was conquered by the Christians under Alfonso VI of Castile. In the late 15th century, the current structure of the castle was built by Juan Guas, with cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza eventually acquiring it in 1469. By the 19th century, the castle belonged to the House of Osuna, who, due to its deteriorated state, sold it to the municipality of Jadraque in 1889 for a nominal sum. A restoration effort lasting approximately 30 years was undertaken to stabilize and preserve the structure, but weathering continues to present challenges.

In recent decades, one of the entrance towers at Jadraque Castle collapsed. Efforts are currently underway to rebuild the northeastern wall of the castle, as it collapsed in 2023 after heavy rain caused a section of the wall to give way.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons