HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
The fortress, which has a rectangular floor plan, was attached to the city wall that defended the village, now gone. The hexagonal towers are of special interest as they demonstrate an architectural advance of the 14thcentury (when the fortress was built) popularized by the Templars, the aim of which was a better defense of the perimeter against attackers. Symmetrically, the tower keep also has three small hexagonal towers at three of its angles.
It has belonged to well-known people in the history of Castile. Its first owner and constructor was Mr. Alfonso Fernández Coronel, executed by the King Pedro I, who bequeathed the fortress to the chiefnotary of Castile, Diego Gómez de Toledo. In the time of Ferdinand the Catholic, its owner was Gonzalo Chacón, whose emblem we can see at the entrance. In 1599 it became the property of the Counts of Miranda, and in the 19thcentury to the Duke of Alba. In 1899, a neighbor of Casarrubios bought the castle and Count’s palace from the duke.
ACCESS
Only the outside can be visited.
FUN FACTS
The statement “Castile makes men and wears them out” is attributed to its constructor, Alfonso Fernández Coronel. He had been appointed as Lord of Aguilar by Alfonso XI, but when the latter died he fell out of favor. Before being beheaded and burnt on the order of the new King, Pedro I, he proclaimed the aforementioned statement.
http://en.www.turismocastillalamancha.es

Castle of Casarrubios del Monte

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In the serene night,
with the brisk and pure wind blowing
and the running water restraining it…
These and many other verses were born at the Castle of Batres, handwritten by Garcilaso de la Vega. The famous poet, a reference author of the Golden Age of Spanish Literature, was also a noted warrior who served under Emperor Charles I and irrigated the battlefield several times with his own blood. To heal his wounds he would retreat to his family’s fortress, where he would pace the ravines and riversides and write his poems, usually by the fountain that is still standing and bears his name to this day.  The Castle of Batres is also associated with other relatives of the poet, such as Fernan Perez de Guzman, a gentleman of the court in the Fourteenth Century who owned an important library, or Pedro Lasso de la Vega, the first collector of El Greco paintings, which used to adorn the fortress’s walls. However, the voice of Garcilaso is the one that continues to resonate, full of power, over time.
Five hundred years have gone by since the poet’s death, but the Castle of Batres still proudly dominates a privileged protected spot in the Regional Park of the Guadarrama river. The same brisk wind continues to gently stroke its walls, and the very same olive trees at which the poet was glancing while pondering about his verses still stand strong.
Now, after five centuries, these ancient olive trees bear fruit once again.
Following a recovery process that has lasted for years, a family member of the owners of the Castle, Álvaro Moreno de Cala, was able to achieve the miracle, after a careful pruning schedule and the pouring of love and dedication: a first harvest to produce a limited and numbered edition. Each bottle is special.
An extra virgin olive oil of the maximum quality, produced entirely in the Community of Madrid. With the full flavour and intensity of the Cornicabra olive, native to this region.
http://www.aceitecastillodebatres.es

Castle of Batres

Built by Pedro Chacón, after he had obtained the ground, which belonged to Juana Enríquez, the wife of Juan II. of Aragón (1458 – 1497),from the catholic kings.
http://www.ac.uma.es/

The Tower of Arroyomolinos

The Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón is a palace-fortress complex found in the small town of the same name near Madrid, Spain. It is located on Madrid Avenue.
The first construction on the site was built in the 15th century by the Counts of Chinchón. On this building, in 1496 the Marquis of Moya, Andrés Cabrera y Beatriz Fernández de Bobadilla, built the first Castle. During the Revolt of the Comuneros, the captains Diego de Heredia and Antonio de Mesa, knocked down the castle in 1521. In 1583 don Diego Fernández de Cabrera y Bobadilla, third count of Chinchón, commissioned its reconstruction from the royal architect Juan de Herrera, who made one of the towers different from the others, giving the castle a more asymmetric profile.Two centuries later, in 1738, the King Philip V of Spain bought the county and granted the title of Count of Chinchón and ownership of the castle to his son the infante Luis (half-brother of Ferdinand VI of Spain). He, in turn, commissioned Ventura Rodríguez to restore the castle and gave the locality its present name, Villaviciosa de Odón. On August 17, 1758, after the death of his wife Bárbara de Barganza, Fernando VI moved to the fortress where he died the following year.
In 1797 María Teresa de Borbón, Countess of Chinchón, whose portrait was painted by Goya, married the prime minister Manuel Godoy, favorite of Charles IV of Spain. In 1808, having separated from the Countess, Godoy was dismissed after the Mutiny of Aranjuez, and imprisoned in this castle, which had belonged to his father-in-law.
Forestry school
Spain's first forestry school, the Escuela de Especial de Ingenieros de Montes, was established at the castle in the 1840s.[2] The forestry school relocated to El Escorial in 1870, and later to the Technical University of Madrid.
Military school and later
Following the forestry school's departure, the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón became a military school. It was sacked and taken by both sides during the Spanish Civil War.