Castillo de los Zúñigas
 This
fortified tower was erected between 1417 and 1420. At the
beginning of the 15th century, the marquess and lord of
Gibraleón set out on a journey by boat along the
río Piedras to confront the authority of the rulers
of Ayamonte, seven years after the start of the works on
the castle of the Zúñegas, situated west
of the town, on a rise that overlooked and dominated all
routes to Cartaya.
Two centuries later, under threat from the repeated incursions
by pirates on the nearby coast, the tension was heightened
by certain frontier conflicts with neighbouring Portugal,
leading to the further fortification of the site, with
strengthened walls and artillery emplacements in the towers.
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This is nowadays declared a National Monument, rectangular
in form, with walls 8 m high and with a total length
of 130 m. It was recently restored, conserving the
bell tower, the tower of homage, and a handsome Mudéjar
door.
Location
The castle of the Zúñigas is west of the town centre
of Cartaya, in the south of Huelva province, on the same elevated
ground that still dominates all routes into the town.
History
While the tower was originally built to transform the town into
a stronghold for Pedro de Zúñiga, the count of
Plasencia, it later became the home of the Marqués of
Gibraleón and served as a refuge for the citizenry during
the attacks by the Portuguese. In 1815 the Marqués de
Gibraleón donated the castle to the town.
In the plans surviving from the middle of the 17th
century, the structure was surrounded by another
compound, walled or with a ‘falsabraga’,
a low exterior wall to augment an inner wall, with
triangular battlements, but then in 1740 the builders
discovered “algo escarnada”, a phrase
often used to describe materials abandoned by pillagers,
to provide parts
for new building. In the same year, it was decided
to change the military function of the fort into
a new project in its interior, as a cavalry barracks,
a proposal that never materialized.
State of conservation
Today the castle is in a good state of conservation. It was restored by the
Consejería de Cultura (ministry of culture) in the early 1990s.
Protection
The castle has been declared a National Monument under the protection
of the ‘Declaración genérica del Decreto
de 22 de abril de 1949’, and law number 16/1985 regarding
the Patrimonio Histórico Español, or Spanish historical
heritage. In 1993 the Junta de Andalucía (government)
awarded a special recognition to the castles in the Autonomous
Community (Comunidad Autónoma) of Andalucía.
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El Convento (The convent)
The convent was established for the members of the Trinitarios
de la Merced Descalza, roughly, the shoeless (ie, poor,
or penitent) sisters of mercy of the Order of the Holy
Trinity. It has a baroque tower, made of smooth stone and
rising to the belltower, topped with a capital covered
with tiling. It was destroyed by the Lisbon earthquake
of 1755, and rebuilt in 1765. It currently serves as private
accommodation, and is in a good state of conservation.
La Ermita and los pilares
Founded by a returning Spanish-American in the 16th century,
and situated at the north-east of the town, the Ermita,
hermitage or chapel, has a clear flavour of Andalucían
baroque style, and has recently been restored. The Pilares,
or storage buildings, of La Dehesa and Mogaya, are Mudéjar
structures and date from an earlier period than the draining
and cultivation of the land around Cartaya.
Paraje Natural de las Marismas del Piedras
The Natural area of the Marismas of the river Piedras
and the Flecha of El Rompido possess a great richness of
flora and fauna. To reach the Marismas, a path leaves from
by the old lighthouse of El Rompido that stretches all
the way along the navigation channel of the Tendal and
in the area known as Pradera de San Isidro there is a cafe
and camping area nearby with a recreation area.
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About
el Rompido
