Castillo de Uclés

Uclés, Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Uclés in Uclés, Cuenca province, Spain, began as a 10th-century Islamic fortress in the Middle March borderlands, designed to defend Córdoba's caliphate against Christian advances, with surviving elements like the Torre de Palomar, Torre de Póntido, and Albarrana tower.

Conquered through treaties rather than force, it passed definitively to Castile in the 12th century when Alfonso VIII granted it in 1174 to the Order of Santiago, who made it their headquarters, adding defensive walls, an albacara for livestock, and a Romanesque church atop earlier structures.

 Much of the original castle now lies beneath the grand Monastery of Santiago—nicknamed "El Escorial de la Mancha"—a Renaissance-to-Baroque complex blending Plateresque, Herrerian, and Churrigueresque styles completed by 1735, preserving the site's military-monastic legacy.