Castle of El Real de la Jara

The Castle of El Real de la Jara is located at a strategic point where the present-day provinces of Seville, Huelva and Badajoz meet, on an elevated hilltop at an altitude of 535 metres above sea level, from which it commands one of the region's main communication routes: the Vía de la Plata.

Its location, from which there is visual contact with the castles of Cala, Santa Olalla de Cala and Las Torres, made it a fundamental stronghold for the defence and control of the territory.

Today, it can be reached by a path known as the “Camino del Castillo” (Castle Path), which leads from the northern part of the village to its walls.

This castle was built ex novo (from scratch) at an undetermined point during the first half of the 14th century. It is therefore a Christian fortification that must be understood in relation to the delimitation of the municipal territory, or “tierra”, of the city of Seville and the protection of the Vía de la Plata (a route of Roman origin that connected the western part of the Iberian Peninsula from Seville to Gijón).

The need to build new castles to mark out the boundaries of Seville's territory arose after 6 December 1253, when Alfonso X confirmed to the city's council the borders of its “tierra”, boundaries which, in the area of the Vía de la Plata, extended as far as Jerez de los Caballeros and Monesterio, according to this document. The problem was that these settlements, which today belong to Extremadura, had previously been conquered by the Order of Santiago, which was unwilling to relinquish them. Consequently, the boundaries of the “tierra of Seville” were effectively moved further south. It was then that the city council requested permission from King Sancho IV to build new castles that would secure its territorial boundaries and, at the same time, curb any possible expansionist ambitions of the aforementioned military order. For this reason, the castles of Santa Olalla, Real de la Jara and Cala were built, although the only one whose exact construction date is known is Santa Olalla, dating from 1293. It appears that the foundations of the castles of Real de la Jara and Cala must have taken place in the 14th century, probably during its first half, since repairs were already being carried out in 1386.

The Castle of Cala (Huelva) and the Castle of Real de la Jara (Seville) were built at approximately the same latitude, on either side of the Vía de la Plata, about 7 km from the road, while Santa Olalla was located 5 km south of Cala. Together, the three formed a triangle, and all belonged to the Seville City Council.

The earliest mention of this place dates from 1280, when Alfonso X granted the inhabitants of “Realejo” (Real de la Jara) a series of privileges in recognition of their assistance to travellers along the Vía de la Plata route. The next historical reference dates from 1386, when the Seville council carried out repairs to numerous castles it owned in the Sierra Morena mountains. In this particular case, the expenditure was relatively small (2,000 maravedís).

It was a route-protection castle, like Santa Olalla and Cala. All three had the function of protecting the Vía de la Plata and providing shelter to travellers who required it, while also serving as a boundary marker (an indicator of territorial limits) for Seville at this geographical point of its “tierra” (province). During the transition to the modern era (16th century), these fortresses fell into disuse, as the populations moved down to the plains and the castles were abandoned. Sold to a private individual in the 17th century, the castle returned to public ownership in 1836, in this case becoming the property of the Town Council of El Real de la Jara.

The ground plan forms an irregular hexagon with a perimeter of 225.4 metres and an area of approximately 2,090 m². No levelling work was carried out, meaning that the walled enclosure was adapted to the topography of the hill.

The castle consists of 8 towers and 8 curtain walls (sections of wall between towers). Five of the towers are quadrangular, while three are smaller and circular in plan, flanking the curtain walls between the quadrangular towers. The towers facing west (towards the road) are larger, and the one at the north-west corner may even have been an albarrana tower (a tower separated from the main enclosure by a connecting wall). The main gate is located on the southern side, within one of the towers, and has a bent entrance passage. The other entrance is a postern gate on the northern side. A staircase attached to the curtain wall on the western side has also been preserved.

The building material is rubble masonry combining limestone, granite and slate, arranged in horizontal courses with a very hard mortar (containing abundant lime). A few years ago, some sections of wall still preserved remains of the original lime plaster, which concealed the mortar joints beneath wide white bands, as well as some traces of false ashlar masonry decoration on the exterior of the main gate.

Only two archaeological excavations have been carried out, on the eastern side in 1989 and on the western side in 2005. The first uncovered a building adjoining the defensive wall, measuring 4.60 metres in width and 15 metres in length. This rectangular structure was divided into two rooms: a smaller one to the north, measuring 4.50 × 2.80 metres, and another measuring 4.50 × 9.00 metres. The interior floors consisted of compacted earth, while outside, remains of slate paving were found above the compacted earth.

The archaeological materials are ordinary objects, mainly kitchen utensils (pots and cooking vessels), some tableware (bowls) and fragments of storage pottery (large earthenware jars).

Ruth Taylor (2010) “Intervención arqueológica puntual de apoyo a la restauración en el castillo de El Real de la Jara (Sevilla): el sector oeste del recinto”, Anuario Arqueológico de Andalucía/2005, 2920-2929.

Magdalena Valor Piechotta (2006) “Intervenciones arqueológicas en los castillos de la provincia de Sevilla, Castillos de España. III Congreso de Castellología Ibérica-Apéndice, 141, 3-14.

Miguel Ángel Vargas Durán (1991) “Intervención en el castillo del Real de la Jara (Sevilla)”, Anuario Arqueológico de Andalucía/1989, III, 417-424.