Castell de Peníscola

Peniscola, Spain, Spain

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Castell de Peñíscola, also called Peñíscola Castle or the Castle of Pope Luna, rises dramatically from a rocky promontory jutting into the Mediterranean Sea in Peñíscola, Castellón province, Valencian Community, Spain.

Originally an Arab fortress from the 11th century, it was completely rebuilt between 1294 and 1307 by the Knights Templar using robust carved stone walls, barrel vaults, round arches, and a central inner ward with chapel, stables, dungeons, and cisterns as their final stronghold before the order's dissolution. 

Later modified in the early 15th century as a papal palace by Antipope Benedict XIII (Pope Luna), who resided there from 1417 amid the Western Schism, and fortified further in the 16th century by engineer Giovanni Battista Antonelli with Renaissance bastions against Ottoman threats, it now stands as a well-preserved historic monument and popular tourist site offering stunning sea views.