Linares de Mora has an important fortified heritage, spread both through the interior of the town and across the rest of the municipality. During the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, the eras on which we will focus our attention, Linares and Castelvispal were lordships of the Mitra of Zaragoza (bishopric or archbishopric of Zaragoza, depending on the date). In 1202, Pedro II of Aragon handed over this territory and Puertomingalvo to Bishop Ramón de Castrocol, so that he would resettle and defend it. It was an area that comprised almost the entire headwaters of the Linares-Villahermosa river, traversed by a stretch of the difficult mountain road that, starting from the coast of Castellón, crossed the mountain massif and linked with the Camino de Valencia a Zaragoza via Cutanda, a town that also belonged to the Mitra.

However, the definitive episcopal occupation of this area did not come about until the time of Bishop Sancho de Ahones, with the construction, around 1222, of the castles of Linares and Puertomingalvo, built on former Andalusian fortifications.

Linares, a fortified town

The town of Linares, located on a hill that is easy to defend, has an important defensive system, made up of the Castle and the walled enclosure.

The Castle is located at the highest part of the hill. To establish its layout, the description made in July 1532 by a commission sent by Fadrique de Portugal, archbishop of Zaragoza, to assess the state of conservation of various properties of his lordship is especially valuable, and from which we reproduce some excerpts in quotation marks.

Access to the fortress was made by a fortified zigzag ramp. Each of its sections formed a small enclosure, with its gate and defensive parapet (“antepecho”), which, if occupied, could be fired upon from positions higher up. An essential part of this defensive system must have been the “torre del cubo”, located at the western end.

After passing through the first two gates on the ramp, one entered the fortress through a third one, above which stood a building. Next to it was the stable; and in a small central courtyard was the cistern, fed by rainwater from the roofs of the buildings surrounding it. Very close by was the cellar, where in 1532 a small arsenal had been stored; in it, the presence of “four old iron guns, three of them mounted on their carriages and the other one dismounted” stood out. Although by that date they must have been already obsolete cannons, this reference indicates that the strategic importance of Linares Castle had been maintained until a few decades earlier, as it was the second fortress of the Mitra with the greatest number of gunpowder artillery pieces.

Other documented facilities are the kitchen, the oven and a dungeon, the latter located near the entrance gate to the fortress, in or next to the torre del cubo. In addition, the Castle had residential spaces, notably the room with the fireplace and three adjoining chambers, above which there was a granary.

In the northeastern corner stood the “torre del homenaje”, which had a polygonal plan. To increase its defensive character, it was accessed from the wall walk of the upper enclosure, by means of a wooden staircase that rose to the roof of the cellar. Finally, the visit mentions the presence of three “garitas”, some of which were probably associated with the hanging barbican on the northern escarpment, slightly projecting beyond the torre del homenaje.

In 1532 the fortress was partially in ruins, and we have no record that it was ever repaired. The absence of military events in the territory led to the transfer of the administrative and representative functions of the lordship to the Casas del Arzobispo, located within the built-up area.

The town was also protected by a walled enclosure, of which part of the original layout survives, running along the streets Portal, Baja, Empedrada and camino de Loreto, turning at the western corner up to the Castle. In 1330 a major phase of works is documented, in which two towers, four “bistorres” (towers open at the back) and the curtain walls between them were built, stipulating that “good mortar and good sand and good lime” should be used, with “cantones (corners) and retro cantones of dressed stone” and with “sayeterías (arrow slits) as was suitable for the work”.

Three gates survive today, notably the gate-tower of the Portal Bajo or de la Fuente, opened with a round arch on the outside of the enclosure and with a pointed arch on the inside of the town. The gate-tower of the Portal Alto or del Hospital and the arch of the Portal Medio or Portalico are also preserved, both more altered. And during an archaeological excavation carried out some years ago, remains of a fourth gate were detected on Calle Hispanoamérica, associated with the old camino de Valdelinares. Besides the gates, numerous stretches of wall and at least two towers are preserved.

The fortified heritage

In Castelvispal, a former municipality merged into Linares, some remains of the old episcopal fortress that gives the village its name are preserved. Built between 1222 and 1262, it stood at the highest part of the hill on which the built-up area sits, coinciding with the narrowing that marked the boundary of the medieval hamlet. The 1532 visit states that it was found “dirruydo en tierra” (collapsed to the ground), except for “un pedaço de paret del dicho castillo de la una parte que esta bueno” (a piece of wall of the said castle on one side that is in good condition). These remains were incorporated into the building that at the beginning of the 20th century was the Casa del Curato. Today, a wall attached to a building on Calle Nueva is preserved.

Furthermore, at least three fortified masías are documented in the municipal area. This type of construction is a unique and very rare typology among masías, characterized by the incorporation of a tower as a defensive and prestige element. They are associated with infanzones and rural elites, and their farmstead often has greater architectural quality and includes other unusual constructions, such as chapels.

The most notable fortified mas in Linares is the Masía de las Torres, located very close to the boundary with Nogueruelas. It has a square-plan tower, 5 meters per side and 8 meters high, with a slightly raised doorway with a pointed ashlar arch, and with numerous arrow slits distributed across its walls. However, it has lost its crenellated top.

In a nearby building, two stone-carved elements from the tops of a Gothic twin window with trefoil arches have been preserved and reused. These elements are consistent with the documented dating of the tower, although they may not belong to it, but rather to a residential building or to another, now vanished, tower. This could explain the repeated use of the plural "torres" (towers) to designate the masía, documented since 1508. On the farmstead, a Early Modern chapel is also preserved, with an ashlar lintel arch crowned by an oculus, and the remains of a small bellcote also survive.

One aspect that makes this masía distinctive within the phenomenon of the fortified mas of Teruel is that it is one of only two cases in which the circumstances of its construction are known. On November 4, 1346, Pierre de La Jugie, archbishop of Zaragoza, granted Petro Noves de Coera, "militi y alcaide de Linares," the right to build "domus et turris" on his masías. This tower was to be similar to that of Eximeno Luppi de Luna, former alcaide of Puertomingalvo, whose permit had been granted just five days earlier and which mentions "turris menis sive merletas" (crenellated tower). Undoubtedly, Petro Noves de Coera was a prominent member of the local aristocracy of Linares, and this permit was very unusual.

The Torre Colás, located on the slope of the muela del Bolage de la Cañada, must also have been a fortified masía. Unfortunately, in the 19th century and in 1929 it underwent major remodeling, during which the tower must have disappeared. Nevertheless, on a small rocky outcrop and on an adjoining flat area, various archaeological remains have been preserved, which could belong to earlier phases of the fortified masía and to the tower itself.

Finally, the Masía de las Paulejas de Abajo, located on the lower part of the slope of the Alto del Candelar, has a turriform structure with a slightly rectangular plan, measuring 6.40 x 5.80 m. Originally it must have been freestanding and, although it has lost its upper crest, it appears to correspond to a tower associated with a fortified mas.

The masía is documented in 1570, when it belonged to Pedro Arcusa, although the documentation does not allow us to determine whether it was a fortified masía at that time.

The inventory of the fortified heritage of Linares de Mora indicated here may be expanded through new archaeological and documentary studies, both regarding fortified masías (there are solid indications of the existence of at least one more) and in the section concerning defensive constructions prior to the Late Middle Ages.