El Castillo

In the IX century, the iqlim of Al-Munastyr was the most important town in the region, head of a military and fiscal district. It was surrounded and protected by a walled fence, inside which was the medina, the aljama and, possibly, its fortress of which no trace remains. The current plan of the walled enclosure is an irregular polygon, with a surface area of about 80 areas and a perimeter of 313 m., articulated by walls of different heights, with rectangular and circular towers at the corners and in the middle of the longest sections. Its construction reveals several constructive stages: the oldest can be traced back to the Caliphate period and its walls are made of masonry reinforced with Roman ashlars at the corners; important interventions from the Almohad period can also be observed in the red earthen rammed earth sections; finally, there is masonry from the medieval Christian period. In 1479, with the signing of the Treaty of Alcobendas, the defensive interest of the fortress decreased and the Archbishopric of Seville stopped paying attention to its conservation and maintenance. In 1583, it was valued at 14,000 ducats and there was talk of its poor condition. Finally, in the 19th century, materials from its fence were used to build a bullring over the old parade ground.