Castle Manzanares el Real

Manzanares el Real, Spain, Spain

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The Castle of Manzanares el Real, known as the New Castle of the Mendoza, is one of Spain's best-preserved late medieval fortresses, located in Manzanares el Real in the Community of Madrid near the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Built starting in 1475 by the powerful Mendoza family on the site of a Romanesque-Mudéjar hermitage beside the Manzanares River, it blends defensive military architecture with palatial luxury, featuring a quadrangular granite structure with four circular towers adorned in Isabelline Gothic style, a prominent hexagonal homage tower, crenellated walls with machicolations, and an elegant interior courtyard with double Gothic galleries on octagonal columns.

Declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931, it now houses a museum showcasing Spanish castles, 17th-century tapestries, armor, and furniture, drawing visitors for its panoramic views and role as a symbol of noble power during the Catholic Monarchs' era.