Calatrava la Nueva and Sacro Convento

Spain, Spain

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Calatrava la Nueva and Sacro Convento, located atop the Alacranejo peak near Vilches in Ciudad Real province, Spain, is a 13th-century fortress-convent built by the Order of Calatrava in 1217 using labor from Moorish prisoners captured after the pivotal Christian victory at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212.

Originally an Almohad stronghold from the 9th-11th centuries guarding a strategic mountain pass, it became the order's new headquarters after they abandoned Calatrava la Vieja, featuring robust defensive walls, towers, a grand Gothic church with Plateresque cloisters, and monastic quarters blending military might with sacred spaces.

Serving as a spiritual and defensive bastion through the Middle Ages, the well-preserved ruins now stand as a testament to the Reconquista's turning point, declared a national monument in 1925.