Photos

This is a picture of the outer wall and main tower of Villena castle.
Villena is situated approximately 50 km from the city of Alicante on the A-31 road to Madrid.
The oldest remains of the castle date back to the Islamic era during the 12th century. The evidence proving the age of the castle is to be found on the first 2 floors of the tower with its mud and stone walls.
Inside the tower you can admire the two almohad dome ceilings. The first floor has 8 interlaced arches, in parallels of two which form an 8 pointed star in the centre. On the second floor there is another almohad dome which forms into the shape of a cupola, once again by means of interlaced arches.
The first two floors are joined by a flight of stairs, where for every step there is a parallel pointed arch ceiling. These almohad domes, along with the ones in the castle of the neighbouring town of Biar are the only ones to be found in Spanish military architecture.
If you are lucky enough to visit Villena and its small but wonderfully preserved castle you can take one of the guided tours (you can not visit unaccompanied).
The tour times are shown on the front gate of the castle.