Castillo de Santa Olalla del Cala

Santa Olalla del Cala, Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Santa Olalla del Cala is a 13th-century Gothic-Mudéjar fortress in Santa Olalla del Cala, Huelva province, Spain, commissioned by King Sancho IV in 1293 on a rocky ridge to bolster the "Banda Gallega" frontier defense line against Portugal, replacing an earlier Muslim structure possibly atop Roman remains. Built with mixed stone masonry and brickwork, it features an irregular coffin-shaped inner precinct, curtain walls with ten towers—four circular and six rectangular—vaulted chambers, and battlements with pyramidal merlons, including a distinctive northwest entrance tower angled at 90 degrees. Part of a coordinated Castilian fortification system alongside castles like Aroche and Cortegana, it showcases Almohad influences blended with Gothic elements and endured as a cemetery into the 19th-20th centuries before gaining cultural protection.