Nogalte Castle

Nogalte Castle, locally known as Castillo de Nogalte, lies on a hill in the town of Puerto Lumbreras in the province of Murcia in Spain.

Nogalte Castle was probably built during the late 12th or early 13th century during Muslim rule. Then the castle consisted of only the upper enclosure. Then this area was part of the Taifa of Murcia and during that time several castles were built to protect agricultural villages. Archaeological evidence however shows that this site has had human occupation ever since the Bronze Age.

In the middle of the 13th century the area was conquered by the Castilians. This made its location suddenly a dangerous border area next to the Nasrid Emirate of Granada. The castle was ceded to a Castilian noble for his efforts. This donation however was more theoretical than real because the area had been seriously depopulated. In 1261 Christians strengthened the castle, the lower enclosure was built and the defenses aimed to Granada were built up.

In 1299, during the couple of years of Aragonese rule, Nogalte Castle was donated to the city of Lorca. At some point in later centuries the castle was torn down to prevent it from falling into enemy hands and to be able to use it military resources on other, more important, locations.

At present Nogalte Castle is freely accessible during daytime. The castle ruin has recently been restored but too much to my taste. It doesn't feel historical anymore. The site is however still interesting because of the many cave houses built into the hill on which the castle stands. These can be visited and some are used as small museum. There is also a visitor center on the site.

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