Guardamar Castle

Guardamar Castle, locally known as Castillo de Guardamar, lies on a hill in the center of the city of Guardamar del Segura in the province of Alicante in Spain.

Guardamar Castle is situated on a slightly sloping ridge, a strategic place in the coastal strip of the Bajo Segura area, next to the river mouth and facing the sea. And what now is known as Guardamar Castle was actually a walled village with a castle at the highest end of the ridge. The village and castle were founded in 1271 as a royal town by Alfonso X of Castile. He populated the town with Castilians. The site however has been inhabited since before Phoenician times.

Castilian rule over Guardamar lasted till 1296 when James II added it to his Aragonese kingdom. In the beginning of the 14th century it became the most important port and coastal fortress for the inland town of Orihuela. In 1331 it was sacked and burned during a Moorish raid. In 1368, during the War of the Two Peters, the village was placed under the jurisdiction of Orihuela.

During the 16th century the old medieval defenses were reconstructed to cope with the advance of warfare; medieval towers were lowered and a couple of bastions were built.

In 1829 the area was hit by a severe earthquake. The castle and village were destroyed and subsequently abandoned as its inhabitants moved to the lower lands next to the sea.

At present Guardamar Castle is freely accessible. It used like a town park. There is not very much to see here, so not very interesting, but nice if you want to have a nice viewpoint over the city.

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