Castle of Doña Blanca

Spain, Spain

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Castle of Doña Blanca is a 15th- or 16th-century watchtower located in El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz province, Spain, overlooking Cádiz Bay and the Guadalete River's mouth. Also called Torre de Sidueña, it was built atop the vast Phoenician archaeological site of Doña Blanca, a major port city from the 8th century BC with walls, necropolis, and houses abandoned by the 3rd century BC Roman era, later featuring an Almohad farmhouse. Legend ties its name to Blanca de Borbón, wife of King Pedro I, supposedly imprisoned and dying there in 1361, though modern views suggest it may have been a hermitage; reconstructed in the 19th century after War of Independence damage, it stands protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural.