Muñatoizko Gaztelua

San Juan, Spain, Spain

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Muñatoizko Gaztelua, also known as San Martín de Muñatoiz Castle, is a well-preserved medieval fortress in Galdakao municipality near Bilbao, Biscay province, Basque Country, Spain, renowned as one of the most complex and evolved castles in the region.

Construction began around 1339 by Joan López de Salazar with a solid square tower, expanded in the late 14th century with renewed walls, then comprehensively rebuilt between 1439-1446 by Lope Garcés de Salazar into a monumental complex featuring a thickened four-story tower with terrace battlements and corner turrets, palatial buildings around a courtyard, double curtain walls with cylindrical and cubic towers, and a drawbridge moat.

Further enhanced in 1476 with residential features like wooden galleries, a pitched roof, and storage facilities, it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in the 1940s and a Cultural Asset by the Basque Government in 2001, now owned by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia as a testament to Basque feudal architecture.