Castillo de Olivenza o de los Duques de Cadaval

Olivenza, Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Olivenza, also called the Castle of the Dukes of Cadaval despite no direct ducal ownership, is a 16th-century fortress in Olivenza, Badajoz province, Extremadura, Spain, built on earlier 13th-century Templar foundations and expanded by Portuguese kings like Dinis with a prominent 15th-century tower del homenaje by João II.

Part of multiple defensive circuits including Vauvan-style bastions, it protected this disputed border town through wars with Spain, briefly lost in 1657, and secured for Spain via the 1801 Treaty of Badajoz after the War of the Oranges. The robust granite structure with an oval star-shaped perimeter now anchors Olivenza's historic core, declared a Bien de Interés Cultural amid Portuguese architectural influences.