The Medieval Castle of Sanabria

The castle of La Puebla de Sanabria is one of the few medieval castles, which, superbly restored to the pride of the people of Sanabria, also constitutes a gratifying double cultural focus. While notable figures from the history of Spain were present within its fortified walls, its use, among other things, as the current Municipal Library and Archive, in some ways, brings its relevance back into the spotlight, with a more noble purpose, for example, than that of the superb and not too distant Templar castle of Ponferrada, whose parade ground once housed the football field of the local team, Ponferradina.

Associated with the Pimentel family and the powerful Counts of Benavente, its walls, perhaps not as gloomy, somber, and mysterious today as when they were first built back in the 12th century and later refurbished, saw the petticoats and breeches of figures such as Juana the Mad and Philip the Fair slip through the footlights of their bedrooms and chambers. These figures, moreover, not only gave rise to part of that vilifying Black Legend forged by the perfidious sons of Albion, but we could also add to it those impossible loves that forged surprising legends, such as that of the lovers of Teruel or the Dantesque destiny of the Dantesque loves between Francesca de Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, who ended up with their souls in Hell, as described in Chant V of the Divine Comedy.

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