Ampudia Castle (Spain)
Castile and León See list of castles in Spagna
The castle of Ampudia is the most important and best preserved in the province of Palencia. It was built between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, being declared a national monument on July 3, 1931.
Of Gothic architecture, it presents a trapezoidal plant that has three square towers in the corners (the fourth tower collapsed due to the fact that the cellars that were next to the castle, hovered its foundations), the largest of which corresponds to the call tower of tribute. It has an elegant-looking facade, symmetrically distributed and ornamented with beautiful flamenco traces and a coat of arms of the Duke of Lerma.
As a curious note, we can say that in this castle, the document was signed by which the change of capital from Valladolid to Madrid took place.
Among the Lords who have owned the castle, the Count of Salvatierra, D. Pedro de Ayala, who embraced the communal cause, giving rise to the fact of weapons known as the Battle of Ampudia, between the emperor's supporters and the troops led by the Bishop Acuña. We can also mention D. Juan de Alburquerque (1280-1354), Duke of Lerma, the Ducal House of Alba and the Count of La Granja. And as outstanding guests of the castle we will mention Mrs. María de Molina, King Fernando the Catholic and Carlos V.
At the beginning of the 17th century he became the owner of the manor Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke de Lerma and favorite of King Felipe III, who attracted the Villa on different occasions, becoming the castle in occasional seat of the court and being this one its period of maximum splendor.
From then on the castle will enter a long period of abandonment until it is acquired, in 1960, by D. Eugenio Fontaneda Pérez, who developed an arduous restoration process that has led to the recovery of this historic building.
In addition, as a result of its collector's work, the castle houses a large and varied collection of antiques that are distributed in the different rooms: archeology, sacred art, folk arts, toys, weapons, ethnography, etc.