


I visited this castle in 2002.
Villalba Castle is also known as Cebolla Castle and Malpica el Viejo Castle (meaning Old Malpica Castle).
It lies on a hill surrounded by an orchard of (I guess) olive trees and next the to the crossroads of the
4000 road from Toledo to Talavera de la Reina and a smaller road leading north to the village of Domingo
Pérez, in the province of Toledo in Spain.
The following historical info is taken from a little Spanish booklet, titled
Castillos de Toledo.
My Spanish translation skills aren't great so forgive any mistakes that may occur.
The oldest reference to this castle dates back to the time of the Knights Templar, in the 10th and 11th century,
who also owned the nearby castles of San Servando an Montalbán. It probably was built on Roman remains. Later
on it was owned by Lopez de Ayala, the counts of Oropesa and the Dukes of Frías.
The castle has a rectangular groundplan. In its corners were towers which, nowadays, have disappeared. All
that remains at the present are the curtain walls, some with square towers in their center, of which the
largest one probably served as a keep.
The castle is of concrete, constructed according to the Muslim technique. There are vestiges of buildings
in the interior of the castle. And outside there is some evidence of a former moat and an outer enclosure.
The castle ruins are freely accessible. This is a very deteriorated ruin which makes it hard to see much
architectural detail. However it's a nice walk to the castle and there are nice views of the surrounding land
from the top.
Also in the middle of the interior of the castle was a small, recently planted, olive branch. A note hanging of
a little fence that guarded it, said that it was planted by a widow in memory of her dead husband. It didn't
say why she had planted it here but it was moving.
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