Castillo de Navas de Tolosa

La Carolina, Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Navas de Tolosa in La Carolina, Jaén province, Spain, is a small 11th-12th century Muslim hilltop fortress known as Los Collados or Las Águilas Castle, built to guard the strategic Puerto del Muradal pass linking al-Andalus to Castile's meseta.

Captured by Christian forces under Alfonso VIII, Peter II of Aragon, and Sancho VII of Navarre during the pivotal 1212 Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa—a crusade that shattered Almohad power with massive casualties—it anchored 13th-century campaigns conquering the Guadalquivir region under Toledo's archdiocese.

Featuring a trapezoidal walled enclosure, hexagonal northeast tower, and possible outer defenses amid Bronze Age and Roman traces, it was demolished in 1473 by Baeza's order, now viewable by private appointment on its rocky outcrop.