Game of Thrones it has become a classic medieval fantasy book series and one of the most successful television adaptations. Much of it has been filmed in England but locations in other parts of Europe have also been used and thus, in Spain, the producers have used the castle you see in the photo.
This is the Castle of Almodóvar del Río, an elegant and huge fortress in Córdoba that has Muslim origins. It has always been popular but since it appears in the series it has become more glossy, especially among fans. Therefore, if you dream of visiting it, here we leave you everything you need to know about it.
History of the Castle of Almodóvar del Río
This fort has a Roman and Muslim past and the first construction dates back to the year 760. Many centuries! Historians say that here there was already an Iberian-Turdetan settlement, fortified and basically dedicated to the shipment of the region's products such as cereals or oil. The Romans have realized this, but it was the Muslims, Umayyads, who in 740 built a fortress.
This was called Al-Mudawar and it is the origin of the name Almodóvar. It passed into Spanish hands under the crown of Fernando III in 1240 and from then on different kings used it. Do you remember the popular Spanish series from the '80s, Fuenteovejuna, based in turn on a real historical episode and on a play by Lope de Vega? Well, the town and the Almodóvar Castle served as finance for the purchase of Fuente Obejuna in 1513, although he later returned to the crown. At some point in the seventeenth century the same crown was detached from this property and then Almodóvar and its castle became a manor of a knight of the Order of Santiago.
Castle fell into abandonment and it reached the twentieth century almost turned into a bundle of ruins. It was then, with the turn of the century, that the XII Count of Torralva began its reconstruction. The works continued until the outbreak of the Civil War. Then both the title of count and the property were inherited by a relative, ultimately Marques de la Motilla, in whose family it remains today.
How is the Castle of Almodóvar del Río
Castle is at the top of a hill 131 meters high, looking at the town of Castillo de Almodóvar del Río. Total occupies an area of 5628 square meters. The wall is about 500 meters long and several towers that in their time gave shape to an impregnable fortress.
La tower of tribute It is located at the southern end of the complex and is 33 meters high. It is a separate tower from the fortress, it is only joined by a narrow stone bridge that is supposed in its times to have been made of wood and drawers, the best to isolate itself completely in case of attack. It is a square tower, with four floors, with a dungeon, main room, intermediate chamber and roof terrace.
Today, in the chamber you will see mannequins pretending to be prisoners of a medieval prison and a hole in the floor from which you can see the dark dungeon.
The main room of the Torre del Homenaje is in a vaulted Gothic style, with corbels decorated with plant motifs and horns in the corners that make the square space octagonal. Above all is the roof terrace with unparalleled views of the Gualdalquivir Valley. On the other hand there is also the Torre round, with a prismatic base, and apparently one of the oldest if not the oldest of all. It has two floors, the upper one with a barrel vault and the lower one made of brick.
There is also the Moorish Tower that looks at the town and has horseshoe arches and the Square tower which is located in the northeast corner and has two floors, one of them today serving as a gunsmith and the other with ancient Mudejar paintings. For its part the School Tower It also has two floors and today they keep an exhibition of photographs of the castle before and after its reconstruction. It is possible to go up to the terrace and enjoy the views of the north side.
La Listening Tower It is a small tower in fairly good condition and was used to detect surprise attacks on the castle. The Bell tower It also has a good general condition and inside today you can see a video report about the Count of Torralva who was in charge of the reconstruction of the beautiful castle. The Ash Tower It is another of the towers. It is said that in its heyday the castle had double and even triple walls. Of course, its location made the construction of moats unnecessary.
The gradual abandonment of the castle began in the XNUMXth century and that is why at the beginning of the XX the need for restoration was urgent. In these works the reconstructors added the chapel, library and palace overlooking the Guadalquivir valley and its fantastic sunsets.
The palace has an asymmetrical facade that draws a lot of attention when you look at it in detail. Inside, in a living room, you will see a large white fireplace that is in the Anglo-Saxon style. The chapel, in the center of the Patio de Armas, began to be built in 1919 and ended in 1934. It is octagonal and has a beautiful neo-Mudejar dome that is inspired by that of the Convent of San Pablo, in Seville.
The library has nothing to do with the rest of the fortress in terms of artistic style. It measures 12 and a half meters long, five high and seven wide. Decorated wooden beams abound and there are also four more beams featuring neo-Mudejar art.
The Patio de Armas has, in addition to the buildings added in the XNUMXth century, two cisterns which at the time gave the castle the possibility of storing some 290 thousand liters of rainwater or from the river itself. Finally, At this same time, one more tower was added to the castle, the ninth, called the Small Tower.
Visit the Castle of Almodóvar del Río
It is near the city of Córdoba, in the town of Almodóvar del Río and on a hill. To this hill you can go up walking, by car or by bicycle. The stretch is not very long or steep. Upstairs there is a large parking lot to be able to leave the bike or the car. There are two paths that you can follow, one paved and the other wild that crosses the field. Both have wonderful views of the countryside, town, valley and river.
Once you get to the top of everything and before entering you can walk the path that borders it, to be able to appreciate the fortress from the outside. Once inside you can choose different types of guided tours: the Guided Tour by the Count of Torralva, the Guided Tour by the King's Mayordomo and the Non-Guided Tour.
- Non-Guided Visit- You go your own way at your own pace with the help of a map given to you with the ticket. In general, you can visit the entire castle except for those spaces reserved exclusively for guided tours. You will go through several themed rooms to understand what happened in the castle (the royal armory, the king's dressing room and the dungeons, for example). There are audiovisual projections and a couple of models, one that shows the siege of the castle and another that is holographic and in which the Marquis himself appears explaining some anecdotes. You can add a walk through the Garden of the Pit, with five areas. The price is 8 euros.
- Guided tour by the King's Butler: it is a peculiar visit where the faithful butler of Pedro I accompanies you through all the rooms of the castle. The ticket costs 13 euros and takes place every weekend and on holidays at 12 noon.
- Guided Tour by the Count of Torralva: is another theatrical guided tour where the XII Count of Torralva himself, the great reconstructor of the castle, guides you through it, explaining his life, his childhood, his wishes, his motivations to undertake this project that he did not even see finished. This visit has a price of 15 euros and is usually offered between 12 and 14.
To check the dates and times of the dramatized visits, I recommend that you visit the castle's official website before you go. You will also find out about the different and numerous activities that the castle usually organizes to open up the medieval world to you and their customs to visitors: Days of Historical Recreation, training in medieval combat, medieval lunches and the fantastic nights of Black moon.
Ah, I don't want to forget. In Game of Thrones the beautiful castle is the ancestral home of House Tyrell.