Cañete la Real Castle

Cañete la Real Castle, locally known as Castillo de Cañete la Real or Castillo de Hins-Canit, lies in a village with the same name in the province of Málaga in Spain.

Cañete la Real Castle was probably built somewhere during the 9th century by a local Berber tribe; the Jali, next to the old Ibero-Roman town of Sábora. They called it Hins (from hisn meaning mountain) Qanit.

At the beginning of the revolt against the Caliphate of Córdoba around 882 AD, the local tribal leader Awsaya ibn Aljali supported the rebel leader Umar ibn Hafsun. In 899, when Ibn Hafsun renounced Islam and became a Christian, Ibn Aljali ceased to be an ally of the Mozarabic revolt. The castle then turned into a bastion of Moorish resistance until it was taken by force in 906 and equipped with a garrison to prevent further riots.

During the 14th and 15th century Cañete la Real Castle was situated in the Shire of Guadalteba which lay on the border between the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Granada.

In 1330 Cañete la Real Castle was taken by Alfonso XI, King of Castile, but in 1368 it was reconquered by the Emir of Granada. In 1407, when the castle was guarded by a small garrison, it was again taken by Gome Suárez de Figueroa for the Kingdom of Castile. In 1480 the castle was again lost to the Moors. In 1482 Cañete la Real Castle was finally conquered for the Christians. It was given to the Osuna family.

Cañete la Real Castle can be visited for a small fee but I visited out of season and it was closed. This castle has suffered badly from that widely spread ugly Spanish restoration practice of rebuilding wall parts with a sort of concrete. So much so, that I found it hard to distinguish any original looking walls. A real pity.

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