Castillo Piedrabuena

San Vicente de Alcántara, Spain, Spain

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Castillo de Piedrabuena is a 13th-century fortress of the Order of Alcántara located in the municipality of San Vicente de Alcántara, Badajoz province, Extremadura, Spain, strategically positioned near the Portuguese border between the Guadiana and Tajo rivers as part of a defensive line.

Originating after the Christian reconquest following the 1212 Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, it served as the head of an encomienda with major expansions in the late 15th and 16th centuries under comendadores like Frey Antonio Bravo de Jerez, who added defensive towers, a bastion by Pedro de Ybarra in 1547, caballerizas, and palatial features including a cloistered patio and heraldic shields of Carlos V. 

Featuring two enclosures with cylindrical corner towers, a Tower of Homage, albarrana Torre del Rey, matacanes, and Renaissance adaptations that softened its military style into a noble residence, the privately owned ruins preserve Gothic and Renaissance architecture through 20th-century restorations.