Spain · Restored
Castle of La Mota
Castillo de La Mota
The Castillo de La Mota is a medieval fortress on a raised mota (hill) at Medina del Campo in Valladolid, Spain. Its defining elements are a large outer barbican, a trapezoidal interior plan with four towers around a square inner court, and a very large square keep constructed in the 15th century. The fortress is built chiefly of local red brick with stone reserved for door surrounds and heraldic detail and has been restored and protected as a cultural site.
First raised
1100
Its prime
1475
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1475
What Castle of La Mota looked like in its prime.
Large medieval fortress of red brick set atop a raised earthen mota dominating the town. The plan is roughly trapezoidal with a prominent outer barbican in front, four towers around a square inner court, an inner curtain wall with crenellated walk for archers, and a very large square keep rising nearly 40 metres. Entrance originally via a drawbridge through an artillery bastion and gatehouse; stone is used for door frames and heraldic detail while the bulk is warm red brick. At prime the complex is complete and intact.
Its story
The story of Castle of La Mota.
La Mota takes its name from the raised mota on which it stands, dominating Medina del Campo and the surrounding land. In 1390 King John I of Castile granted the town to his son, the infante Ferdinand of Antequera, future king of Aragon, and through the following century castle and town changed hands between the rival kings of Castile and Aragon, sometimes held by opposing sides.
The fortress is built chiefly of local red brick, with stone reserved for door surrounds and heraldic detail: a large outer barbican, a trapezoidal interior plan with four towers around a square inner court, and a very large square keep constructed in the fifteenth century.
La Mota became a prominent prison, variously housing Hernando Pizarro, Rodrigo Calderón, Duke Ferdinand of Calabria and Cesare Borgia. Protected by the state since 1904, first as a national monument, more recently as a Bien de Interés Cultural. It has been restored, while little remains of the expanding series of walls that once surrounded the town.
Step inside
8 places to explore in 1475.
The record describes 8 distinct spots at Castle of La Mota, including 3 interiors: inner curtain wall walkway (archers' walk), square inner court, prison cells within the keep. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Castle of La Mota with AI to explore it.
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