The Enlarging Castle of Lloberola: Catalonia's Surprising Medieval Fortress

The Castle of Lloberola, a cultural asset of national interest in Lloberola, Catalonia, stands on a hill that rises about 100 meters above the left bank of the Riera de Lloberola, a tributary of the Riera de Sallent. Its construction unfolds in three phases, each revealing a piece of its history. The oldest construction is a wall that enclosed the northwest part of the hill, with segments preserved today. The northern wall, measuring about 8 meters long and 2 meters high, suggests there were around 23 meters of wall enclosing the entire northern part initially.

The construction material of the preserves is large square stones (55 cm x 55 cm) bound with good mortar, hinting at one or more square towers defending the wall. A second construction is a trapezoidal tower built after the first, currently standing about 6 meters high, though it was likely much taller originally. The walls still bear the openings intended for the beams of the roof. In a third period, a larger tower with a trapezoidal plan was built atop the second, although details of this phase are not well-documented.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons