Castillo de Aznalmara

Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Aznalmara, also known as Castillo de Tavizna, is a small 13th-century Nasrid fortress atop a steep 540-meter hill near the river Tavizna in Benaocaz, Cádiz province, Andalusia, Spain, guarding a key strategic pass in the Sierra de Cádiz during the late medieval frontier wars. Likely built by Almohads on possible pre-Roman Iberian and Roman settlement remains, it changed hands repeatedly—conquered by Castile in 1410 under Infante Fernando, retaken by Muslims, and finally secured for Christians in 1485 by the Marqués de Cádiz after Ronda's fall, later serving Napoleonic troops in the Peninsular War. Today, its ruins include a pentagonal western tower, defensive walls, and a Napoleonic ramp, protected as a cultural asset within the defensive network alongside castles like Olvera and Setenil.