30/12/23

Castle of Villanueva de Jamuz (León)

North view of the castle


The castle of the Quiñones was built throughout the first half of the 15th century at the initiative of Don Diego Fernández de Quiñones, the future Count of Luna from the year 1462. It has a quadrilateral plan, with towers in three of its corners. In its north-east wall there is a central cube where the entrance to the castle is located and an ashlar on which the weapons of D. Suero de Quiñones, the protagonist of “El Paso Honroso” in Hospital de Órbigo, are sculpted, which reads the phrase “Honor or end.” Inside is the parade ground and the homage tower, with the heraldic shields of Don Diego and his wife María de Toledo. It had four floors and was crowned with a projecting cornice supported by modillions. The first floors served as the lords rooms and rest chambers.

North-east main facade

West tower

Remains of the battlements of the west tower

Western canvas of the north-east castle wall

Semicircular tower that protects the main entrance to the castle

Detail of the top of the central semicircular tower on the north-east wall

Remains of the machicolation that protected the entrance door to the castle

Ashlar sculpted with the weapons of D. Suero de Quiñones

Pointed arch door that gave access to the castle

Eastern canvas of the north-east castle wall

North tower

North view of the castle

North-west wall

Homage tower which was once called del Merino due to the position of its owner

Detail of the battlements and corbels that support the cornice of the homage tower

West view of the castle

Terrace of the homage tower

Porthole on the south-west side of the homage tower

Window on the south-east side of the homage tower

South-west wall

South tower

Remains of the basis of a possible albarrana tower next to the south tower

South view of the castle

South-east wall

Window openings of the south-east wall

Machicolation who defended the south-east wall

South-east view of the castle

Villanueva de Jamuz

Town Hall of the Santa Elena de Jamuz


Villanueva de Jamuz is a town belonging to the municipality of Santa Elena de Jamuz, in the province of León in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, it belongs to the Tierra de La Bañeza region. The town would have been founded around the 11th century, where it is already documented. At first it was known as Villanueva de Don Vermúdez, a figure of the Leonese nobility, and during the 13th and 14th centuries it was renamed Villanueva de Simón Sánchez, a relative of the previous Vermúdez. From this century onwards, Villanueva, together with nearby towns, became the Council or Jurisdiction of Valdejamuz in the hands of the powerful family of the Quiñones-Counts of Luna, in turn relatives of the previous ones.

Church of Saint Cyprian

Bulrush of the church of Saint Cyprian

Fountain located in the Church Square

Underground wineries as caves or galleries

View of the town from the bridge over the Jamuz river

Location of the castle of Villanueva de Jamuz

1/9/23

Castle of Las Navas del Marqués (Ávila)

South-east view of the castle from outside the town


The castle-palace of Magalia was built in 1540 by the first Marquises of Las Navas, Don Pedro Dávila y Zúñiga and his wife, Doña María de Córdoba, who used it as the residence and administrative center of their marquisate. It is located in the Sierra de Guadarrama, where the southern slope of the Central Mountain Range takes the name of Sierra de Malagón. The complex highlights the main façade with projecting balconies, Renaissance windows and an entrance door with a semicircular arch, the stone hallway and the patio with two galleries, as well as two flat stone vaults located in one of the towers. These vaults are unique in the world, since there is only one other in the Royal Monastery of El Escorial. In the 18th century the building was abandoned and finally sold in 1906, along with the Las Navas lands, to the Resinera Española company, which later gave it to the State to use it for cultural purposes. It is currently managed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Access door to the interior area where the castle is located

North-west façade where the entrance door to the castle is located

Entrance door with a semicircular arch crowned by a triangular pediment

Heraldic shield of the Dávila family over the main door

Entrance hall where a passage was located to the outskirts of the castle

Court since Don Pedro Dávila dispensed justice

Courtyard of honor with double gallery

Gallery of Ionic columns on the ground floor

Staircase of honor connecting both galleries by its south slope

Upper gallery with Doric style architraved columns

Hall of Honor

Circular library room

Music room

Chapel located in the north tower from the 13th century