The completed castle-palace of Castell d'Artés

Castell d'Artés, in rural Catalonia, is a completed castle-palace located on a hill. The origins of the castle can be related to a Roman or Visigothic castle that may still have been partially present when the territory was repopulated by Count Guifré. The castle was documented in 1078. The castle's name is considered to be derived from the term «arx-arcis», meaning fortress. The bishops of Vic, who held domain over the Vall d'Artés and the castle since the 9th century, owned and controlled the castle.

The castle was under episcopal domain until the 19th century. In the 16th century, Castell d'Artés was occupied by a peasant family and had lost its castle functions. The old building of the castle is now integrated within the current farmhouse known as 'El Castellot'. The structure of the initial military castle in 'El Castellot' is now completely obscured by later constructions. The eastern side of 'El Castellot' presents a double facade with the perpendicular gable and a double-slope roof, partially plastered and built on a first floor of courtyards corresponding to the walls of the fortress.

The oldest construction apparatus is of stones of medium size in horizontal rows, joined by sand and lime mortar. The walls added later follow the same model. The various dependencies that formed the old building of the castle are difficult to identify today. Parts of the castle date back to the high medieval period and are located in the lower part of the building. The central core of the complex is a rectangular room, possibly originating from the 10th century, situated further back to the east. Four high medieval dependencies were added to form a unified and enclosed building, three of which are covered with barrel vaults. There are three entrances to the building, two of which are Romanesque and one from the 18th century.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons