Gardeny Castle: 12th-century Romanesque fortress built by the Knights Templar

Castell de Gardeny, also known as the 12th-century Romanesque fortress built by the Knights Templar, is strategically located a mile away from Lleida’s main fortress, the Castle of La Suda. Gardeny protected the only accessible side of the Castle of La Suda. By the 20th century, only the palace and church of Santa María de Gardeny remained. However, archaeological studies from 2005 show that the palace and church were originally constructed as two separate buildings that were later joined by a corridor or sacristy.

Francisco Collignon’s middle oblique view, created after 1647 but before 1687, depicts the location of Gardeny in relation to the city walls, containing Lleida’s principal castle, the old cathedral, and the bishop’s palace. In the 19th century, at the time of Suchet’s siege of Lleida and its two castles - La Suda and Gardeny - the area also had the two strong fortifications of San Fernando and Pilar.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons