Burgalimar Castle

A marble inscription plaque found at the entrance of the castle records the date of its construction as 967 AD (357 AH), during the reign of the caliph Al-Hakam II, who is also named in the inscription. The marble plaque is now kept at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid.[1][2][3] The castle was built as a military base and garrison to defend the valley of the Guadalquivir River and the roads to and from the capital city of Córdoba.[4]: 131 [1]

In the 12th and 13th centuries, during the Reconquista, the castle changed hands multiple times between the Muslim rulers of Al-Andalus and the Christian kingdoms to the north. Alfonso VII captured it in 1147 but it returned to Muslim control after his death in 1157.[5] Alfonso VIII and Alfonso IX together captured it again for a time in 1189.[5] It was captured by the Kingdom of Castile in 1212, shortly before the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, but returned to Almohad control three days after the battle.[3][6][5] The castle was definitively conquered by Castile in 1225, when it conquered the surrounding region.[2][5] The Castilians later added a keep tower called the Torre del Homenaje ("Tower of Homage") in 1466.[3][6][2][5]

It was designated a National Monument of Spain in 1931.[2]

^ a b Llorente, Margarita Sánchez. "Foundation plaque". Discover Islamic Art - Museum With No Frontiers. Archived from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-01-20. ^ a b c d "The Oldest Preserved Castle in Spain". Fascinating Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-20. ^ a b c Gil-Crespo, Ignacio-Javier (2016). "Islamic fortifications in Spain built with rammed earth". Construction History. 31 (2): 1–22. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page). ^ a b c d e Nutter, Nick (2021-05-16). "Castillo de Baños, in Baños de la Encina is the oldest castle in Spain". Visit-Andalucia.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-01-20. ^ a b Connolly, Peter; Gillingham, John; Lazenby, John (2016). "Banos de la Encina". The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Warfare. Routledge. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-135-93674-7.