Would anyone care to talk about their favorite castles, especially those in Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Castilla y Leon, Cantabria, Navarra, La Rioja, and El Pais Vasco?

Here is an interesting link regarding castles in Spain:

Asociación Española de Amigos de los Castillos .

By the way, the picture you can see at the home page is the castle of "Manzanares El Real". This is only medieval castle in Spain which still remains in good conditions and it's in Madrid!!.

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The best tips from your favourite hostal in Madrid.
Hostal Chelo at http://www.chelo.com

I think my favorite is one of the smallest castles in Spain. It's located in Basque Country. Castillo de Butrón is unique. As you can see from the link, http://www.kender.es/~butron/
it looks like it's straight out of Snow White, or some other Disney offering.

It was fantastic seeing all the young couples who were getting married there, and having pictures taken with the castle as a backdrop. They have a parapet that is often rented for wedding receptions.

To me, it's one of the few that I would return to repeatedly, just to enjoy the atmosphere, and stand on a parapet to enjoy the view.

Wolf

Where exactly is the Castillo de Butron, Wolfgang? I'm looking at my Michelin map but can't seem to spot a town of Butron.

There is a program in the Discovery channel about the great European Castles, and the only Spanish castle they talk about is
"El Escorial".
is that the most important castle in Spain?

Rafael

Hi Carole!

I'm getting specific information for you since the town of Gatika, which is nearest the castle, probably doesn't show on your map. It's location is in Vizcaya, but I should have some correlations as to its relationship to Bilbao and other towns within a day or so. I have a real problem when it comes to remembering these things. I will post it then.

Wolf

A castle in El Escoria?. Uhm, I've never heard of that. We should ask for confirmation to Missmadrid.

I wonder if they are actually talking about the "Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial" which is not a castle.

Wolf-

I'VE BEEN TO BUTRON! I can't believe anyone else even KNOWS about it! It was, as you say, very small, and very closed the day we went. I was told it was built as a gift by some noble to his wife. It's been 13 years since I was there...

I must say that my favorite in the sense of what I thought a castle would be as a kid, and then seeing it realized in real life is Coca, in between Valladolid and Segovia. It is an exquisite example of mudéjar architecture, although not necessarily built for anything other than elaborate parties by the Archbishop of Fonseca (if I have my facts straight). It is a gem. Simancas is great too, but have never been inside. It's the site of the national archives.

Calibasco,

There's another smaller castle, but I believe it's privately owned, very near the coast. I can remember seeing it as we'd travel from Ea back to Bilbao. According to my friends, it was built by Napoleon for his mistress. A short jaunt across the Bay of Biscay from France on a clear day

We had the chance to wander through Butron after we took the tour, and I just loved it. The castle is so unique, but so few people see it that it's amazing. It isn't included in any Spanish tours to my knowledge, and the only tour I have heard of originates in Bilbao, and includes the Guernica Tree & assembly.

There's so much to see in Basque Country. Too many people miss it.

Wolf

So maybe CaliBasco can help?? Where is the Castillo de Butron? We'll be spending some time in Basque country and would like to take a look.