Castro Ferraz Castle

Located in the heart of Despeñaperros Natural Park, in the municipality of Santa Elena, Castro Ferraz Castle towers over a hill, dominating the steps of the Port of Muradal and offering exceptional panoramic views of this part of the Sierra Morena.

Built by the Almohads before the confrontation and to defend the La Losa gorge, it played a prominent role in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212). In the preliminaries of the battle and before the flight of its defenders, it was taken by the troops of Alfonso VIII. It is believed that the retreating Muslim army was trying to attract the Christian troops into an ambush prepared at Paso de la Losa. In this desperate situation, a shepherd who knew a safe passage not guarded by the Arabs appeared before the king. Following his advice, the Christian troops avoided the most dangerous reliefs and camped on the Mesa del Rey. This is how they broke the privileged position of the Almohad troops, embarking on the path to victory.

In ancient times, Castro Ferraz had three defensive enclosures. The first, the one that is the least well preserved, used a wide palisade structure on an earthen slope that closed the top of the fence and described an almost perfect circle. Inside there is a second enclosure, possibly built of earthen rammed earth on a masonry base, of which some remains are preserved and two bastions that could have protected the entrance to the castle are found here. The central core of Castro Ferraz is made up of a rectangular enclosure made of adobe mortar, currently in very poor condition, inside which the remains of what appears to be cisterns can be seen.