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.