This is the first Italian-inspired castle in a Moorish influenced of Granada. It was built on the site of an old Moorish castle in the 16th century. It is located at the plateau of Marquesado on the northern foot of the small hill of Sierra Nevada, overlooking the village of La Calahorra and twenty (20) kilometers southeast of Granada Province, Guadix.
The castle was given to Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar Mendoza by the Catholic monarchs; the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Zenete. He traveled to Genoa and Florence, Italy and have had relationship with Lucrezia Borgia and almost married to her. He then returned to Spain with a group of Italian architects and designers. He married, Maria de Fonseca, made the interior of the castle comfortably for his wife and children. Years from 1509 to 1512 the Renaissance castle was designed by the Italian architect, Lorenzo de Vazquez, decorator Michele Carlone of Rovio and sculptors Egidio, Pietro and Giovanni of Verda, Gandria. The staircase was made from the imported Italian marble called Carrara.
The exterior of the castle is of from the medieval times, the fortress to be specific and the four round huge towers. The reddish color of the base and the walls of the castle are due to the iron ore from the Alquife Mines of the Sierra Nevada, as its background of the Calahorra Castle. There are only few openings of the walls except for the east, west and south walls, which have small windows each.
There is a small door in the east that leads to a guard room which has a staircase that runs up to the bailey. The interior of the castle is lavishly decorated, with its Renaissance patio, the galleries of arch, the Corinthian-columns and the Carrara marbled-staircase.
The castle is located at the foot of Sierra Nevada, whenever you are approaching the town, you can see the castle from the distance. You can also see the snowy caps of the mountains at the background. The castle is one of the most dramatic sights in the province of Granada. The fortress of the castle is forbidding and solid and as ironically sensitive and refined of the inside. Both the Medieval and the Renaissance architecture have been perfectly combined of the haunting yet fascinating Calahorra Castle of Granada.
You can visit the castle every Wednesdays only from 10:00 in the morning to 1:00 in the afternoon and 4:00 in the morning to 8:00 in the evening. The castle is now privately owned and it has a caretaker that lives in the town. You can ask some of the locals where its caretaker and take him with you for the visit.
Even if it is close you can still walk to the castle and its outside. You can see view of the whole town of La Calahorra from the castle. If you like to see the view of the castle from your hotel room, stay at the hotel Hospederis del Zenete.
