Let me update for you and me this memorable castle of mine.I was driving in my road warrior mode in passing from the road saw a castle ! Well me headed for it and it has been a memorable family visit and find on the off the beaten paths of my dear Spain, This is the Castle of Garcimuñoz in the Province of Cuenca, Autonomous Community of Castilla La Mancha of the Kingdom of Spain. Hope you enjoy the post as I.
We were driving back home base on the Autovia del Este (east highway) or A3 when we saw this castle in the distance. Somehow castles attracts me so we took a detour to see it and it was a pleasant surprise as this is the historicall and architecturally famous Castle of Garcimuñoz actually the village also the town’s name. Again, let me tell you about this jewel of Spanish fortress-like castles. The Castle of Garcimuñoz is a very small town of less then 70 folks right along the expressway A-3 Madrid-Valencia at km. 156. It is at 915 meters above sea level and the town is on a descend from it. The walls of it are 3 meters thick and built to resist the attack of artillery of the times. On the lower level, it is reinforced with a slope making it difficult to conquered it. The form is square irregular and its corners are reinforce with circular cubes. On the north side you have the main entrance tower or Torre del Homenaje; these towers has a dome in bricks and crown with casements and ample space to move artillery.
Until the first third of the 19C the Marquis de Villena were the owners of the town and castle, later with the law of 1823 it passes to the public treasury and the Marquis ends selling the lands in Castillo de Garcimuñoz. The peculiarity of the castle is that below the castle that was ordered built in 1458 exists the castle where the original owner lived in continuation of the occupancy by Garci-Muñoz , and from which in its day the Caliph Yusuf ordered built while in his warring in the area in 1172. During the Arabs/Moors occupation the place was called Al-Marg Hamal. In 1177,king Alfonso VIII conquered the town of Cuenca, and two years later takes over the place of now Garciamunoz after also taken Zafra de Záncara. The castle took the name from a knight García Muñoz, that accompanied the king and this was confirmed in various documents of the period such as in 1167 ,and twice in 1179. García Muñoz was name mayor of the Castle in charge of the population and it is for this reason that it was known with the name of castle Garcimuñoz. The town was re populated by ordered of the king with folks from Extremadura and Burgos. Later on, king Alfonso VIII took Alarcon in 1184 and made the castle belong to its jurisdiction for 138 years.
During the many wars amongst the kingdoms of Spain ; in 1296 king Jaime II of Aragon starts a war to take over some places belonging to Don Juan Manuel; this later claims they were taken in haze and ask to be returned to him. One of the compensation was Alarcon and several other villages, he obtained from the regent queen Maria de Molina priviledges given at Cuéllar in 1297 , that ,also confirm the treaty of Torrellas of 1304. Thereafter ,for most of his life Don Juan Manuel lived in the castle of Garcimuñoz, in one of the towers he kept his fortune according to his will and where he wrote many of his literary works. Probably, it is here that his daughter Constanza (wife of king Pedro I of Portugal), was born and later died in Santarem in 1345 leaving one son Fernando that later would be king of Portugal as Fernando I.
Here comes a central figure in the history of this area and Spain, Don Juan Pacheco ordered built a new fortress at Garcimuñoz in 1456 on top of the previous fortress of Don Juan Manuel ; when the cemetery was transfered here in 1974 due to excavation later in 2008, you can see the lower level of the old fortress built by Don Juan Manuel. The son of Don Juan Pacheco, Diego López Pacheco, was opposed to the ruling of Isabel I or Isabel la Católica, together with the archbishop of Toledo Don Alfonso Carrillo. The war of succession was on after the death of king Enrique IV in which towns such as Garcimuñoz, the last remnants of the marquis of Villena falls to the infanta Isabel. In 1480 it is signed at Belmonte the concordat with the Catholic kings and with this ends the war as well as the fighting utility of the castle of Garcimuñoz. Until the first third of the 19C, the marquis of Villena are the lords of the castle and town and in charge of collecting taxes . The law of 1823 ends the lordships and the charge of taxes passing to tribunal courts or government treasury; this cause the Marquis of Villena to sell the castle or Castillo de Garcimuñoz.
This is the castle that Don Juan Manuel inhabited since 1312 and the one that the Marquis of Villena, Don Juan Pacheco had built in 1458. The first references to the castle of Arab origin date from the year 1172 when the emir Abu Yacub Yusuf, on his way to Huete, destroys it and enslaves its women and children. Restored by Garcí-Muñoz, it was inhabited by Don Juan Manuel who controlled the Lordship of Villena from there, as the successive Marquis continued to do until Don Juan Pacheco moved the control center to Belmonte. The Garcimunoz castle has been restored from 2010-2016 by Izaskun Chinchilla in postmodern style. A restoration where sculpture mixes with architecture, but worth visiting to appreciate the different styles of castle restoration. The windows of the first and second level shows that part of the castle had a palace aspect. The first floor windows have three centers and the middle inverse. There is a ornamental arc that is closed with a crown below it and in the center the Royal arms of king Enrique IV of Castile The castle is peculiar because below it ordered built in 1458 there another where Don Juan Manule lived and in turn it is the continuation of the one lived by Garcia Muñoz , of which one day was destroyed by the Caliph Yusuf in his conquest of 1172 against the town of Huete.
Some things to see here are: On the side of this castle on a cut of it, was started to built in 1663 a Church or Iglesia de San Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist) and opened in 1708. The stones and towers of the castle were used to built the Church and were the cause of the destruction of most of the castle; however thanks to the Church we have a castle stil today. The patio was rented to the local priest for a cemetery as it was then prohibited to buried folks in Churches. Other things to see are: the Cross of Jorge Manrique built in 1941. it is about 3 km from the town on the way to Nava ,the place where supposely felled fatally wounded the poet Jorge Manrique in 1479. it is built from shisel stone from the Cathedral of Cuenca and it is the place to return after the procession of the Virgin. You can read in the monument: Here felled fatally wounded Jorge Manrique, fighting for the unity of Spain. It has two shields on each side and in the center an iron cross. At the foot is a deposit where the coplas song of Jorge Manrique amongst them the “A la muerte de su Padre” to the death of his Father, today there is only a hole left. The town also, had an hospital. After in 1834 evicting the monks and in 1835 the sisters there was a hospital for the poor with land reaching to the castle of Garcimuñoz as well as two convents. The hospital of Our Lady of the Conception or hospital de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción was founded by the parish priest in 1640. The convent or convento de frailes de San Agustín (of monks of St Augustine) was founded by Don Juan Manuel in 1236 , and still preserve the abside of the Church in gothic style and the walls of the cloister. The convent or convento de monjas agustinas, also known as Nuestra Señora de Gracia was founded in the 15C and restored in 1500 ; it is still in good condition inhabited by 8 families in the town.
The Association Infante Don Juan Manuel to safekeep the castle:https://www.castillogarcimunoz.es/historia/
The Castilla La Mancha region on the GarciMuñoz castle: http://en.www.turismocastillalamancha.es/patrimonio/castillo-de-garcimunoz-20731/descripcion/
There you go folks,,a really nice castle very sober on the outside pretty much like a fortress it was intended in reconquest times ,but inside very nicely renovated and stylish. The Castillo de Garcimuñoz is a very good detour indeed, ; again hope you enjoy the post as I,
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 