Castle of Baños de la Encina

The impressive silhouette of the castle of Bury al-Hamma dominates the rural landscape of the town of Baños de la Encina, flanked by a robust and crenellated wall with fourteen towers, plus a fifteenth or Christian Tower of Tribute, the castle has hardly suffered damage, constituting, therefore, the best preserved fortified complex of the Almohad era, while being one of the best preserved Muslim castles in all of Spain. Already in the Copper Age (prehistory), the first vestiges of occupation of the site of the Castillo de Baños appear, in its interior, strong Iberian walls and a funerary mausoleum of a sacred character, give way to an Almohad urban complex (12th century), In addition to a double “water ark” or cistern. The construction of the castle was as simple as it was durable, the walls rise from a tapial with a high proportion of lime, earth, Chinese river and water. 15 square towers form this colossus with a peculiar oval shape adapting its construction to the flush Cerro del Cueto. After the excavations carried out, the Muslim presence from the emiral period can be verified, being the Castle, along with others nearby, rigid control of the Sierra Morena passages and the Guadiel depression during the 12th century. It became definitely Castilian after the take in 1225 by Fernando III, adding the alcazarejo, wrapping and raising by stone one of the Arab towers, giving rise to the Tower of Homage or Fat Beacon. It was declared a National Monument in 1931.