The Castillo de Portillo is a medieval castle in Portillo, in the province of Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain; the earliest elements of its present construction date to the fifteenth century.
History
The site, 23 km from Valladolid, has been fortified since the tenth century, when it is documented in connection with Moorish forays into the region, under Abd al-Rahman III. In the fourteenth century, and until the early fifteenth, it was in the possession of the family of Sandoval; in 1392 it was confiscated from Diego Gómez de Sandoval in the name of King Juan II of Castile, who granted it in 1438 to Ruy Díaz de Mendoza. From 1448 to 1452, Portillo was occasionally held by Juan's favourite, Don Álvaro de Luna, although the fortress remained in royal hands. Don Álvaro, however, fell from favor, and was detained at Burgos, sent to Portillo until two months later he was tried at Valladolid, and subsequently beheaded in the main Plaza on 2 June 1453. In 1464 Enrique IV of Castile conferred it upon Alfonso, held in trust by Juan Pacheco, the prince's tutor, until his death (1474), though it had been ceded to Rodrigo Alfonso de Pimentel, whose heirs held it until the nineteenth century, when it passed to the family of Osuna.
As the history above indicates, Portilla is better known for the list of distinguished prisoners it has housed, than for being the site of battles or other events. Juan II of Castille was briefly imprisoned at Portillo in 1444 by the Conde de Castro, escaping by bribing one of his guardians. The chronicles also touch upon the fact that Don Enrique, brother of the admiral Don Fabrique y de Suero de Quiñones (who fought at Paso Honroso) was jailed here for conspiring against the crown.
The castle has been a national monument since 1931. It is a property of the University of Valladolid.


Portillo Castle


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Iscar Castle lies on a high hill, overlooking the village by the same name, in the province of Valladolid in Spain.
It has an interesting keep, built in excellent ashlar masonry and with a pentagonal plan. On a corner of the keep is a turret with the coat of arms of its owners during the 15th century; Don Pedro Zuñiga de Avellaneda and his wife Catherine Velasco de Mendoza.
The elevated entrance to the keep was guarded by 3 robust towers, built closely together, which formed a small defensive enclosure behind the keep, protecting the stone steps and wooden drawbridge (now gone).
The rest of the castle is made up of a walled enclosure with towers. And in some of these towers there are small, rectangular windows, corresponding to the 16th century artillery.
The first castle at this site was a Moorish castle which was mentioned in an Arab chronicle as being the base for a Moorish raid into Christian territory in 939. In the 11th century the castle was owned by a nobleman from the Burgos province; Alvar Fañez de Minaya, a lieutenant of the famous "El Cid". He probably repopulated the area and rebuilt the castle.
Between the anecdotes of the castle's strength there is one of a punishment siege by the Castilian king Alfonso II in 1334. This was carried out because the Lord of the castle; Don Juan Martinez de Leyva, had denied the king entrance to the castle.
This is a nice castle ruin which offers great views of the surrounding countryside due to its elevated position. Sadly the beautiful keep was closed when I visited so I couldn't climb to the top. The rest of the castle is freely accessible.
http://www.castles.nl

Iscar Castle

The Castle of Simancas (also known as Simancas Castle) is a fortified complex in Simancas, central Spain. The castle stands in the center of town and houses the current Archivo General de Simancas.
History
The site of the castle was at one time a Moorish fortress. In the 15th century the House of Enríquez constructed a new fortification on top of the existing ruins, restored the Moorish walls, and added a chapel. The new castle was seized by the Spanish Crown during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs and turned into a prison. In 1540 the Archivo General de Simancas was established in the castle, the first official archive of Castile. Felipe II transformed the castle into General Archive of the Kingdom, which housed one of the most important archives in Europe with 35 million documents. The castle was put under the protection of the Spanish government in 1949. In 1952 renovations were enacted to reduce risk to the archives. The castle is now open to tourists and researchers.
Fortification and structure
The castle's foundation, walls, battlements, gates, and bridges all date back to the late 15th century, mostly attributed from 1467 to 1480. The end of the reconquesta in 1492 ended the immediate need for a large defensive fortification, and as such the castle's various reconstructions molded it into an administrative building. Later additions to the castle incorporate aspects of the Herrerian style of architecture. The current archive housed within the castle has been protected with fireproofing measures, and the 15th century chapel built by the Enríquez has been restored.

Castle of Simancas

Cuéllar Castle or The Castle of the Dukes of Alburquerque is the most emblematic monument in the town of Cuéllar, located in the province of Segovia, autonomous community of Castile and León, in Spain. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Property of Cultural Interest) on 3 June 1931.
The castle is conserved in good condition, and it has been built in different architectural styles between the 13th and 18th century. Much of the castle in the Gothic and Renaissance styles. The military building was extended and transformed in the 16th century, turning it into the palace of the Duke of Alburquerque. During its different building stages, masters such as Juan Guas, Hanequin of Brussels and her son Hanequin de Cuéllar, Juan, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, and Juan Gil de Hontañón "el mozo" or Juan de Álava have worked on the castle.
Among its historical owners, stands out Álvaro de Luna and Beltrán de la Cueva, as well as the successive Dukes of Alburquerque. Distinguished guests on it were some Castilian monarchs, as Juan I and his wife the Queen Leonor de Aragón y de Sicilia, that died on it, or María de Molina, that took refuge on this castle when her Kingdom was rejecting her. Also stands out figures as the painter Francisco Javier Parcerisa, or the writer José de Espronceda, the generals Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, who set his garrison barracks in this castle during the Spanish War of Independence.
The Dukes of Alburquerque lived in this castle for centuries until they moved to Madrid to be close to the court. Thereafter their use of the castle was as leisure and holidays palace, abandoning the building slowly. At the late 19th century the castle was almost completely abandoned, and was victim of robberies. In 1938 was a political prison was settled within the castle, and after was established also a sanatorium for prisoners affected by tuberculosis. It was used as prison till 1966.
In 1972, the Department of Fine Arts carried out an intensive restoration, and made it the home of a Vocational Education school, which continues to this day.