Castillo De Íllora

Íllora, Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Íllora is a 9th-10th century Caliphate-era fortress crowning a rocky outcrop above Íllora village in Granada province, Spain, strategically dubbed the "right eye of Granada" for its vital role overlooking the Vega plain and linking via signal towers to Moclín and Montefrío castles during Nasrid frontier defense against Castile. With three enclosures including a fortified town, citadel, and suburb, it witnessed palace intrigues—like the 1432 ascension of Sultan Abú Hassan Alí—and fell to the Catholic Monarchs on June 8, 1486, when Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the Great Captain, became its first Christian governor. Its well-preserved walls, towers, and cisterns now offer panoramic views as a protected historic site, embodying Granada's final defensive network before 1492.