Castillo de Santa Marta: 9th-century fortress overlooking Pancorbo gorge

The 9th-century Castillo de Santa Marta stands over Pancorbo gorge in the province of Burgos. Built by the count Diego Porcelos in the late 9th century, it is also called castillo de Pancorbo or La Sala. Its position dominating the entrance of the Pancorbo gorge provides a strategic utility of the highest order.

The fortress was besieged but never captured by Al-Mundir in 882. In the 11th century, it passed into the hands of Navarrese nobles from the Fortuniones family. Later, in 1380, the villa of Pancorbo passed to the señorío del Concejo de la ciudad de Burgos. In the mid-15th century, the count of Salinas, don Diego Gómez de Sarmiento, usurped the fortress of Pancorbo and kept it until the early 16th century.

In 1679, a French author from the retinue of queen María Luisa de Orleáns described the castle. The fortress was later restored during the last decade of the 18th century, but its defenses were burned in 1835. Today, only a few ruins remain, with a bridge between two rocks and holes in the rocks for the anchorage of stairs.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons