Xiquena Castle

Xiquena Castle, locally known as Castillo de Xiquena, lies on a hill in the fields west of the village of La Parroquia, in the province of Murcia in Spain.

Xiquena Castle was founded during Muslim rule over the area, certainly before the 13th century, but maybe even as early as the 10th century.

The incorporation of the Muslim Taifa of Murcia in 1243 into the Castilian kingdom, made these lands part of a large and hostile frontier area between the Kingdom of Castile and the Emirate of Granada. Xiquena Castle remained in Muslim hands and became a lonely sentinel in a virtual no man's land.

In 1433 the castle was conquered after a siege, during which it was bombarded, by the troops of Alonso Yáñez Fajardo, the Adelantado Mayor of Murcia. It then stayed a watch post, but in Christian hands, in front of the Emirate.

The next decades the castle was in the hands of members of the House of los Vélez family. They were involved in a power struggle within the Kingdom of Castile. After they lost this struggle in 1459, Xiquena Castle was bought by Don Juan Pacheco, Marquess of Villena.

In 1492 the Emirate of Granada was conquered by the Christians and the frontier disappeared, which made Xiquena Castle lose its strategic importance.

In 1520, when the castle was still in the hands of the Marquess of Villena, it was destroyed by the troops of Pedro Fajardo y Chacón, Marquess of Vélez, residing in his Vélez-Blanco Castle nearby, probably out of spite.

At present Xiquena Castle can freely be visited. Notice that there is no real path to it, so you will have to make a small walk through the fields and scramble up the hill. But the castle and the solitary surroundings are certainly worth a visit.

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