Castle of Setefilla, Lora del Río

Spain, Spain

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Castle of Setefilla near Lora del Río in Seville province, Andalusia, Spain, occupies a prominent tell—an artificial mound layered with human occupation from the Bronze Age around 1500-1000 BC through Tartessian, Roman, Visigothic, and Muslim periods.

Fortified as an 8th-century Arab stronghold called Lawra or Chadfilah under the Banu Layt tribe between Córdoba and Seville, it controlled seven surrounding villages (Septe Filias) until Fernando III conquered it in 1247, granting it to the Order of Saint John.

Featuring two walled enclosures, a southern rectangular gateway tower, and a central keep as the best-preserved element built in mixed stone-tapial technique, the site was abandoned by 1539 and now lies inaccessible to the public adjacent to the Nuestra Señora de Setefilla shrine.