The fortress of Ciria in Soria

The Castillo de Ciria is a medieval fortress located in the town of Ciria, in the province of Soria. It served to monitor the passage of Muslims and sat on a route that ran from Bilbilis to Numancia. A scene of pacts and battles, Ciria was linked to border conflicts between Castilians and Aragonese. In 1395, the king Enrique el doliente delivered the villa to Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, along with Agreda, Vozmediano, and Borobia, despite the resistance of Agreda.

In 1430, the Aragonese king seized the fortresses of Ciria and Borobia, but they passed back to Castilian hands following the treaties between Aragon, Castile, and Navarre in 1437. In 1443, it is known that Doña Aldara, niece of the constable Don Álvaro de Luna, took Ciria as a wedding dowry with Don Carlos de Arellano, son of the lord of the Cameros.

The existing structure on top of the hill has a total length of about 10 meters and a width of approximately 1 meter. It is rectangular and made of masonry with two layers, where the interior is filled with irregular limestone stones. The construction is held together by a lime and stone mortar with small quartz stones acting as a binder. This mortar was also used to plaster the exterior of the wall.

The preserved wall is marked by about thirty battlements, some with diamond-shaped tips, and up to ten arrow slits. It has an access gate but does not have a keep or flanking towers. The interior of the fortress, of which little remains, shows a broken and irregular appearance in height.

The title of Marquess of Ciria was created in 1771 and given to Don José Pedro de Luna. The succession reached the Vizconde of Eza, Don Luis Marichalar and his descendants, the current count of Ripalda.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons