Visit to the Castillo -Berlanga de Duero- An impressive monumental complex with remains from different eras.
Berlanga de Duero Castle is located in Berlanga de Duero , in the province of Soria , in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León in Spain . In the 10th and 11th centuries, a Muslim fortress stood on this site, which was extended in the 12th century, after the Castilian conquest, by the outer belt of walls that is still preserved today. In the 12th century, the interior of the walls was adapted to the way of life.
The current monumental complex consists of the remains of the late medieval fortress from the 15th century, which at the time served as a family residence and a defence fortress.
The 16th century artillery fortress was used for military purposes, but over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries it lost its military functions and instead took on other functions such as a prison, archive and arsenal. From the end of the 17th century, it began to decline due to the ongoing looting by the city’s population.
This palace and its inner gardens laid out on different levels suffered a fire and destruction by Napoleonic troops in 1811, so that today only the main façade remains.
Wall from the 12th century.
St John’s Church built in the 12th century. The remains of the apse with a diameter of 4 metres and a limestone wall have been preserved.
Remains of a Renaissance palace of an old Romanesque church, a medieval necropolis consisting of at least 21 tombs carved into the rock. The tombs have a rectangular or anthropomorphic shape, they have an east-west orientation and some of them have a circumferential recess to place the stone slabs that covered the deceased. This extensive necropolis was probably linked to one of the ten medieval churches of Berlanga.
An aqueduct (water supply)Escalote River In its last period, the fortress had a complicated system to channel water from the Escalote River to the castle, based on the Ctesibius machine described by the classical architect Vitruvius in his treatise on architecture from the time of Julius Caesar. The great difference in height between the river and the fortress led to the construction of this device, which would transport the water to the summit by means of air pressure through a pipe and serve to supply the people living in the castle with water to irrigate the magnificent gardens of the palace. The pipe rested on this arched structure and was connected to the network of canals that watered the gardens.
Inner courtyard and watchtowers of the fortress.
Interior of the fortress.
Ascent to the watchtowers.
The walls of the artillery fortress are 5 metres thick.
Former location of the cistern to store rainwater and water from the water system.
Bolano, a roughly carved, spherical stone projectile fired from primitive artillery pieces. They were generally made of limestone, but it was common to use material from the quarries near the besieged fortress. Their weight was between 5 and 150 kg.
On one side, the castle and fortress were protected by the gorge and on the other by the protective wall.
There were 10 churches on the castle and fortress estate, almost all in Romanesque style, which were all demolished in 1526 to build the collegiate church of Berlanga. All the stones from the old churches were used to build the new church.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Berlanga de Duero City Council acquired the entire monumental complex of castle, walls, palace and gardens and began the process of consolidating, restoring and enhancing this magnificent monument.
And there they fly again at eye level. Beautiful and huge. There are so many, we can’t count them.
The city itself is also worth a visit.
