Iscar Castle

Iscar Castle lies on a high hill, overlooking the village by the same name, in the province of Valladolid in Spain.

It has an interesting keep, built in excellent ashlar masonry and with a pentagonal plan. On a corner of the keep is a turret with the coat of arms of its owners during the 15th century; Don Pedro Zuñiga de Avellaneda and his wife Catherine Velasco de Mendoza.

The elevated entrance to the keep was guarded by 3 robust towers, built closely together, which formed a small defensive enclosure behind the keep, protecting the stone steps and wooden drawbridge (now gone).

The rest of the castle is made up of a walled enclosure with towers. And in some of these towers there are small, rectangular windows, corresponding to the 16th century artillery.

The first castle at this site was a Moorish castle which was mentioned in an Arab chronicle as being the base for a Moorish raid into Christian territory in 939. In the 11th century the castle was owned by a nobleman from the Burgos province; Alvar Fañez de Minaya, a lieutenant of the famous "El Cid". He probably repopulated the area and rebuilt the castle.

Between the anecdotes of the castle's strength, there is one of a punitive siege by the Castilian king Alfonso II in 1334. This was carried out because the Lord of the castle; Don Juan Martinez de Leyva, had denied the king entrance to the castle.

This is a nice castle ruin which offers great views of the surrounding countryside due to its elevated position. Sadly the beautiful keep was closed when I visited so I couldn't climb to the top. The rest of the castle is freely accessible.

Gallery