And again, this is a great story in the family and I need it to bring it to more attention with of course older new pictures to the blog. We came here 3 times (see posts) and always great family time which you can read, it has brought a lot of memorable moments to share with my family and friends. Let me tell you again on the views from the Castillo de Belmonte !! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
This is Belmonte, Province of Cuenca, autonomous region of Castilla La Mancha, Kingdom of Spain. We came here by car straight from Cuenca on the road N 420. It is one of the best castles combining the history of my beloved France and Spain! This is a must if visiting Spain, me think, The Belmonte Castle, impressive to say the least. It has been preserved as it was constructed and kept by the family for generations. The castle went thru periods of abandoned for several centuries and it was finally, Eugenia de Guzman, heir to the house of Villena and better known as the Imperatrice of the French Eugenia de Montijo (wife of Napoleon III) who ordered the renovation which began in 1857 !!,and what you see today.
You can see the huge wall rampart around it kept for most of the original impressive next to it and even more from the castle upper floor ! The walls of Belmonte were built throughout the 15C, and of the original walls two sections are preserved in perfect condition that fall from the castle to the town. They start from both sides of the castle to surround the town forming an irregular oval. They ran through the current streets of the Cementerio, San Bartolomé, Division Azul, Astrana Martín, Antonio Ruiz and Eugenia de Montijo. Its perimeter reached around 2,000 meters long (6600 feet). Its walls had to start from the new castle on both sides, with a height of 11 meters (about 35 feet) by 2+ meters (about 8 feet) wide, not counting the parapets and battlements, which would have another 2+ meters (8 feet) tall by ,60 meters (about 2 feet) thick. And throughout the enclosure the convenient flanking buckets that will disturb from each other will be 61 meters (200 feet), and that will rise above the walls about 2+ meters (8 feet), in addition to their respective parameters and battlements.
There were five puertas or gates (see post) that opened along the walled enclosure, three of which are still used as access to the town, You have the Puerta de San Juan, to the north. The doorpost and turret on the right is still preserved. The doorpost from the left to the first cube was demolished in 1912 to build the current bullring. The Puerta de Chinchilla, to the south, which in addition to being the first one that was made, is the one that has best reached our day. From here to the castle the wall canvas is still intended, with a beautiful Torre de Albarrana tower. The Puerta del Almudí or the Rollo. The Puerta de Toledo or Monreal. The new gate, to the west, of which there are hardly any ashlars left of the left hand doorpost.
A bit of history I like tell us that the plains of La Mancha were not conquered by the Christians until 1182. In that year, Alfonso VIII, with the help of the military orders of Calatrava and Santiago, recovered Alarcón, from which Belmonte, then called the Las Chozas or huts, was nothing more than a humble village. In 1398, Enrique III donated the lordship of Belmonte to Don Juan Fernández Pacheco, who his son Don Alfonso Téllez Girón inherited. This Alfonso Téllez was the father of the famous Don Juan Pacheco, future Marqués de Villena, and the depraved Pedro Girón, both born in Belmonte, Don Juan Pacheco, betrayed Alvaro de Luna and King Enrique IV himself, to oppose with all his forces to the Doña Isabel’s marriage with Don Fernando de Aragón (later known as the Catholic kings of the Reconquest, and ordered Colon to discover a new world) . To do this he made a war in which he implied his son, the second Marquis, Don Diego, in favor of Juana, the Beltraneja. The walls are ordered to build in 1456 by Don Juan Pacheco, at the same time as the castle.
The official castle of Belmonte : http://castillodebelmonte.com/en/
The town of Belmonte on its history (with tourist map): https://www.belmonte.es/municipio/historia/
The Castilla La Mancha regional cultural heritage site on the Belmonte castle: https://cultura.castillalamancha.es/patrimonio/yacimientos-visitables/castillo-de-belmonte
We drove a bit on the town, very old and quant and of course, can’t forget the castle and the windmills looking out, it reminds me of Don Quijote !!! And of course, the history of two countries dear to us, France and Spain, nice. Again, hope you enjoy the views from the Castillo de Belmonte as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 