New Castle of Manzanares el Real
| New Castle of Manzanares el Real | |
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Native name Spanish: Castillo nuevo de Manzanares el Real |
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| Location | Manzanares el Real, Spain |
| Official name: Castillo nuevo de Manzanares el Real | |
| Type | Non-movable |
| Criteria | Monument |
| Designated | 1931 |
| Reference no. | RI-51-0000720 |
 Location of New Castle of Manzanares el Real in Spain
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The New Castle of Manzanares el Real, also known as Castle of los Mendoza, is a palace-fortress erected in the 15th century in the town of Manzanares el Real (Community of Madrid, Spain), next to the Santillana reservoir at the foot of Sierra de Guadarrama.
Its construction began in 1475 on a Romanesque-Mudéjar hermitage and today is one of the best preserved castles of the Community of Madrid. It was raised on the river Manzanares, as a residential palace of the House of Mendoza, in the vicinity of an ancient fortress that was abandoned once the new castle was built.
The castle now houses a museum of Spanish castles and hosts a collection of tapestries. It was declared a Monumento Histórico-Artístico in 1931. It is owned by the Duchy of the Infantado, but its management is the responsibility of the Community of Madrid.
The land bordering the upper reaches of the River Manzanares, rich in pastures and forests, were the subject of frequent disputes between different powers that emerged after the Reconquista. The communities of Villa y Tierra de Segovia and Madrid had several disputes over the 13th century, which were resolved in the 14th century by King John I of Castile with the donation of the comarca to his steward, Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza.
The eldest Mendoza son, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Admiral of Castile, is credited with building the first fortress, now known as the Old Castle of Manzanares el Real, although it is likely that this building had an earlier origin. In the last third of the 15th century, the House of Mendoza decided to build a new castle-palace, larger and more luxurious, in accordance with the remarkable economic and political influence achieved by this family.
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