Castillo de Lanjarón

Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Lanjarón, known locally as the Moorish Castle, is a 13th-century Nasrid defensive fortress perched on a rocky promontory above Lanjarón village in Granada's Alpujarra region, Spain, strategically positioned to guard access routes from the Lecrín Valley to Sierra Nevada and the coast. Built during the reigns of Yusuf I or Muhammad V as part of Granada's frontier defenses, it features two enclosures with preserved wall sections, a square bastion tower of masonry and adobe, and a vaulted brick cistern, with possible earlier phases revealed by archaeological ceramics. Captured by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1494 or 1500 amid Morisco revolts, it was repurposed by Christian forces rather than destroyed, falling into ruin after the 1568-1571 Alpujarras War, and now stands as a protected Bien de Interés Cultural offering sweeping views.