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Condition: Throughout its history it suffered many damages, some motivated by the progressive abandonment that was falling after losing its military purpose, and others, due to natural causes, such as those caused by the earthquake that devastated Lisbon in the mid-eighteenth century. Today it is protected by the general declaration of the decree of 22 April 1949, and Law 16/1985 on Spanish Historical Heritage, by which it received the status of monument. Further, in the year 1993 the Junta de Andalusia gave it the deserved special recognition as Castle belonging to the autonomous community of Andalusia. August 1st of 2006 the ownership of the castle was passed on to the City Council of Cortegana. Actual use: At present, it hosts a museum, where the main exhibits are the Castle itself and all its elements.. Architectural sheet: This fortress is situated on a hill, 745 meters high, from where it dominates a large panorama of the Sierra and the Dehesa.
Its typology suggests that perhaps it could be a construction of Christian origin, built before the Almohad period, during the twelfth century, although there are also signs of belonging to the Berber people. Delivered in the 13th century (1253) to the Council of Seville by Alfonso X the Wise, however, over the 14th-15th century it will be abandoned at first, but later becoming a strong base, well equipped with men and provisions, because of the continuing wars and banditry. In the sixteenth century, during one of the ongoing clashes with the neighboring Kingdom of Portugal, one of its towers will de destroyed. In 1685, the seventeenth century, the fortress was damaged by an earthquake. Subsequently, it was rebuilt to protect from the new conflicts relating to the War of Independence that Portugal took on to Spain, and artillery was installed. While the nineteenth century goes by a little unnoticed in the history of this building, the twentieth century will provide it the function of museum. This because it is well renovated, both its towers and walls remain in a good state . The entrance is defended by loopholes and tower, and gives direct access to the parade ground. The Islamic Castles used to have an entrance into a bend, to favour the defense of such an important part as the access. The materials used are stone masonry and brick with gusts, and its distribution is in three sections: The first floor, which in turn is divided into: In the south, parade ground, the entrance and the well, in the east we find five vaulted chambers covered with half-barrel vaults, which form the residential area where once the guard, stables and warehouses were accommodated. The second floor, accessible by a staircase which leads to the flat top of the walls, that also serves as an interior defense of the door of the Castle, situated on the southeast side, and consisting of three chambers that contain the main room, used as a large living room. At a third level, a large terrace allows for the installation of artillery and war machines. From here you can reach the Torre del Homenaje, with interior stairs up to a defensive terrace and also down to the lower levels. The towers of the southeastern corner and the central one of the west side, have two strongrooms with access to the flat top of the walls, from where the gate, the well and the parade ground were controlled, small, and from which the other units and different levels could be reached. La Torre del Homenaje (Tribute Tower) was erected in 1515 by Don Diego de Merlo, and has loopholes in its three fronts. Nowadays it has chipboard uptil the roof, that is covering the two floors and from where the roof gives access to the strongroom, that protruding to all sides, crowns the Fortress. It has at the same time, as the outer limit of the entire hill, running around the Castle, a barbican with various towers, six in the seventeenth century and two doors, the main one located in the southwest, with a tower to protect it and perhaps complex articulation in the double door, and the second consisteed of a wicket on the eastern side. Adarve: top of a wall, usually covered, which has openings or windows to the outside for the guards to monitor the surroundings. Torre del Homenaje (Tribute Tower) is the highest tower of a castle, so called because it was where the vassal swore the oath to his lord. Loopholes: narrow sheltered windows of truncated conical shape, allowing shooting from a fortress. Historical sheet: According to Gordon and Ruinstaller, the name Cortegana comes from the hispanolatino word Corticus, not from Corticata, as has been assumed as a name of this important place. It is also possible that the first element was Corte finca, resulting primitively in Cohorte. Mankind appears in these lands in the Calcolithic era, approximately 2500 BC., as evidenced by the dolmen of Corteganilla and the towns of Alto de la Caba, Cerro del Cojo, Santa Barbara and Sierra de Papatortas. During the Arab period, Cortegana is one of the districts of the Cora of Seville, where the Berbers built the Castle as a symbol of the strategic importance of the town. However, the documentation of the period is scarce, because the Christians viciously destroyed all the files. In the mid-thirteenth century, the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Portugal compete over the region, expelling the Muslims. In 1253, Alfonso X the Wise grants Cortegana to Seville, becoming part of their jurisdiction. According to some investigators, it is likely to have links with the Order of the Templar Knights, but also determine a relationship with the Knights of the Order of Santiago. From that time until the nineteenth century the land is belonging to the Crown, and in turn belongs to the jurisdiction of Seville. The proximity to the border will cause that Cortegana, like other villages of the region suffer from the wars Castilla will wage against Portugal. Aware of this danger, Seville designs what is known as the Banda Gallega (Galician Strip), a defensive system of concentric lines and staggered toward the southeast, to fend off the attacks of Portugal The castle of Cortegana is occupying the second line, along with the castles of Torres and Cumbres Mayores. At that point it takes advantage of the existing Muslim fortress, carrying out major reforms. In the late Middle Ages and in view of the repopulation phenomenon, Cortegana has extensive community owned pastures, forests, and small farms, that are jealously protected by their council. During the first half of the fourteenth century there is no border between the municipalities of Aroche and Cortegana but agropastoral land use was leading to deforestation. Thus in 1371 a ruling by the council of Seville authorized the residents of Aroche to maintain the meadows of Corte de Lana, and those of Cortegana, the meadows of Carpio. In this mountainous area livestock is essential for survival. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there were substantial flocks, which suffered from the continuous plundering of the Portuguese, at war with Castile. In 1385 they entered the municipalities of Aroche and Cortegana and took more than 10,000 animals, including cows, sheep and pigs. Therefore, the council of Seville in 1479, had to send armed men to the Portuguese border, in particular to Aroche, Cumbres and Cortegana as protection against the actions of the looting of the Portuguese.
1. The Castle of the Towers, near the river Múrtiga, and close to the strength of Cumbres de San Bartolomé, was an example of the second defensive belt of the Banda Gallega. 2.Donjon: Tower. In 1532 a regulation is put in place for the economic, administrative, social and political rights of the municipality. The result will be a model of Ordenanzas of Montes (decrees) and that any ecologist of the late twentieth century would immediately sign. Claiming that the pastures are the mainstay for the economy, with stiff penalties for offenders who fail to respect or damage them. In the sixteenth century the town was experiencing the influx of a lot of people employed in the works of the parish church of Divino Salvador, where the old mudéjar decoration is changed for the new work Gothic work. The building of this church was completed in the late eighteenth century. The seventeenth century will be characterized by the difficult living conditions, as between 1640 and 1668 a new confrontation is developing with the neighboring Portuguese kingdom, the War of Independence from Spain. One of the most negative effects was the continuing accommodation of troops to defend the border. The Chapter Acts of the Cortegana Council tell us that in the year 1642 it is decided to send emissaries, at the cost of money, to avoid being sent troops to Cortegana. However, given the news that the Portuguese enemy is approaching, the town will have no choice but to raise a relief company of 110 men paid by the residents. After these moments of maximum peril, the fortress is going to be completely abandoned and neglected, as evidenced by the documents of the Municipal Archives in Seville. This is in addition to the damage caused by the earthquake that occurred on the day of San Dionisio in 1681. But the struggle for life continues and the confrontations with the neighbors of Almonaster keeps coming back; hence the reason why in the year 1771 the Audiencia of Seville prohibits the residents of Cortegana to attend the festivities held in the village of Almonaster at the chapel of St. Brigid. During the War of Independence the town was stormed on July 7, 1810, suffering terribly the City Council of Cortegana, forced to supply food to the French and Spanish armies. In the mid-nineteenth century, Cortegana is recovering and has a cork factory, which exports the product to Marseille and elsewhere. There are 12 potteries, supplying all kinds of pots to more than 30 surrounding villages, 3 locksmiths where iron objects are worked on, especially steelyards, 10 flour and 2 oil mills and more than 100 textile and wool mills that at a given time provide work for many other women who weave cloth in and out of the town. But at the middle of this century the mining fever is going to unleash. People from all places settle in mining towns, like Valdelamusa. Within its boundaries it will locate mines such as San Telmo and Confesionarios. This leads to revival of the economy, but it is also creating difficult problems, such as the hazardous fumes of outdoor calcinations, destroying trees in the meadows, where from the beginning of the twentieth century a new base of the economy is formed with the pig industry. Cortegana today has a diversified economy and a special beauty, and as a symbol of the city, the Castle, which makes all of its inhabitants feel proud. Arts and Culture
Standing out is the metalwork, like the fabrication of scales to weigh animals, cork or cereal. Also materials are produced related to horses, like bits, stirrups and spurs. Another important industry is the processing of cork, raw material used for seals and countless everyday objects as small furniture, bowls, hives, etc.. Other cultural expressions can be found in workshops dedicated to the textile industry, as in gold embroidered for robes of the Virgins, mitigation and other liturgical objects that contrast with other produce such as the everyday manila shawls, tablecloths, bed sets, table towels and other confections. With regard to the pottery there is a tradition documented through archaeological remains of the Bronze Age to the present day. Some expressions can be found in many everyday items such as earthenware bowls, pots, pitchers, drinking jugs, dishes, pots, etc.. With regard to the festivities, we highlight Carnival the Holy Week, The Pilgrimage of St. Antonio, the Medieval Days and the Fair in September. |
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The labyrinthine structure of the complex had also a defensive character as well as the existence of the well inside the walls, so they had no lack of water when they were besieged. The Castle has an approximate length of 40 meters, flanked by four rectangular towers and one semicircular, and its perimeter is free of any building, except in the east where we find the hermitage of Our Lady of Piety. Which is not the case for example in Cumbre Mayores and its floorplan is trapezoidal, with six towers, five quadrangular. The full enclosure reached a length of threehundred twenty-six meters long, inside which the population could take refuge with all their movable property and livestock in case of an enemy attack or siege.
The specific importance of Cortegana increases, because in the mid-fifteenth century the council was granted its own seal, with a large central Donjon and above its two towers a moon on the left and on the right a star or six pointed sun. 