Ruins of 900-year-old castle unearthed from courtyard in Spain. Take a look

Aspen Pflughoeft
·1 min read
8

Below the green grass and small rocks dotting a courtyard in Spain lie the ruins of a once-grand castle. The fragmented structure sat in dirt and obscurity — until now.

Situated in the heart of Valladolid, the San Benito complex has several stone buildings overlooking a series of courtyards. The former monastery complex is a large, three-story building.

Archaeologists excavating a courtyard at the complex ahead of renovations uncovered the ruins of the castle, the City Hall of Valladolid said in a March 8 news release.

The castle was constructed between 1105 and 1157 as the city’s first defensive structure after two kingdoms, León and Castilla, separated, city officials said.

A section of the castle ruins unearthed at the site.
A section of the castle ruins unearthed at the site.

The period was marked by instability, but the Valladolid castle offered safety and security to those nearby, the release said. In this way, the imposing stone structure allowed the area to grow and prosper.

The castle was destroyed in 1702 to make way for a monastery to be built, Javier Moreda, the excavation’s head archaeologist, said in the release.

Ruins of the structure survived. Photos show the stone walls unearthed from the courtyard. In one section, archaeologists found part of a massive stone pillar.

The top of a large stone column unearthed at the site.
The top of a large stone column unearthed at the site.

The original castle had a square design with eight stone pillars, one on each corner and one in the middle of each side, city officials told El Español. The recently uncovered pillar stands almost 15 feet tall.

A view of the courtyard where excavations found the castle ruins.
A view of the courtyard where excavations found the castle ruins.

Previous construction excavations in the late 1980s found fragments of the structure, but it remained largely unknown, El Español reported.

Valladolid is about 115 miles northwest of Madrid.

Google Translate and Facebook Translate were used to translate news releases from the City Hall of Valladolid. Google Translate was also used to translate the article from El Español.

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