One of the municipalities of Catalonia, in Spain, part of the province of Barcelona, is Cardona. This place is known for its imposing castle, so if you like these medieval buildings, there are many in Spain and one of them is here. The Castle of Cardona It was built in 886 by orders of Wilfredo el Velloso and follows a Romanesque and Gothic style. It is the most important medieval castle in the municipality and it contemplates us from the top of a hill over the saline valley and the Cardener valley.
It was in the XNUMXth century that the Dukes of Cardona became the most influential family within the Crown of Aragon. First there was the royal family and then these dukes so they were sometimes called the kings without crown. They were rich, they had huge tracts of land in Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon and of course many of their members were married to different royal houses so this family was very well linked with Castile, Naples, Sicily and Portugal, for example. The Castle of Cardona suffered a siege in 1714 and was one of the last to surrender to the troops of Felipe V in times of the War of Succession.
Today the Castle of Cardona houses the Parador Nacional de Turismo and appears in the list of 10 best castles in Europe. The Minyona tower dates from the 15th century and is its most precious jewel, 10 meters high and more than XNUMX meters in diameter. There is also a church in the Romanesque style, the so-called Sala dels Entresols and the Sala Dorada. Not to be missed.