Castillo de Peracense, in Teruel 1/3

View from the foot of the castle of Peracense in Teruel.

Click on the images to enlarge.

The red sandstone battlements.

THIS is what a castle should look like!

Although the site has been in use since the Late Bronze Age, the castle we visited yesterday was built in the 12th century, on the border between Aragón and Castilla. Enlarged in the 19th century, and restored in 1988, it takes advantage of the natural sandstone formation and is built from the same red stone. The afternoon we climbed through all three of its concentric rings, it was windy and cold. Life there must have been brutal. There are aljibes, or water cisterns, so the defenders could hold out for months if under siege, with their horses.