About

We are unable to know the origins of Cortegana Castle with any precision. Neither the few known written sources or the archaeological activities on the site, have been able to shed any light on fixing an exact date for when it was erected.

The only documentary testimonial concerning its origin is an oral legend collected by Juan de Ledesma in 1633 and, later, by Rodrigo Caro in 1634, which tells of the mythical foundation of the castle by a knight called Pedro Domingo who arrived in Cortegana after having fallen into disgrace at Court, although such a story is not very reliable. More recently, its foundation it has been linked to the figure of King Sancho IV of Castile, who in 1293, authorised the council of the city of Sevilla to build a number of castles to defend its outlying areas.

It would not be until the “Order” granted by Alfonso XI to the city of Sevilla in 1344, that Cortegana Castle would appear mentioned for the first time, and then from that date onwards there would be numerous mentions relating to the appointment of mayors or repairs carried out, all financed by the council of Seville, which had use of it by royal consent.

Perhaps primitively, it was simply a walled area with six towers without any chambers, solid up to the height of the wall-walk, and on the inside, with an underground cistern besides a small area of rooms of an ephemeral nature. The most likely is that it was built during the 14th century and greatly remodelled during the 16th.