The castle where Queen Isabel I spent a night

The Castillo de los Dávila sits on the escarpment of the Tormes riverbank. Its history dates back to 1393, when the knight Gil González Dávila began the construction of these fortifications. Later, the castle passed to the Order of Calatrava and in 1539 to the Ducado de Alba, who held the property until 1881.

Notable figures used the castle as a waypoint. Queen Isabel I is said to have spent a night here, and Carlos V stayed within its walls while traveling toward his retirement at the Monastery of Yuste. Today, the castle is private property used for events, but it remains a protected cultural asset.

The structure is built in the shape of an irregular hexagon. A thick wall separates the large courtyard from the main fortification, which consists of a four-story rectangular tower and a secondary three-story body. A spiral staircase provides access to the upper levels, where the architecture transitions from heavy granite arches to brick-vaulted ceilings.

While some of its original doors have been blocked over the years, the ensemble preserves openings in the form of saeteras and aspilleras, as well as defensive and decorative elements characteristic of military architecture from this period.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons