Castillo de Segura (Segura de la Sierra)

Perched on a steep rocky promontory at about 1,230 metres, the fortress presents a pentagonal layout adapted to the slope. The main fortified enclosure occupies a consolidated terrace at the summit and is lined at regular intervals with square or rectangular towers, built mostly in rubble masonry with ashlar blocks used at key angles. Brick appears in arches, vaults and some decorative elements, reflecting a mixture of construction techniques across periods.

Below the summit wall there survives an outer line of defence that functioned as a barbican, an outer defensive wall, although this element is not entirely preserved. Lower still, a third circuit of ramparts once enclosed the medieval town. The principal approach climbs by a ramp through the outer wall to an entrance tower. That tower, recorded from the eleventh century, contains two successive right-angled doors forming a bent entrance, a defensive layout with North African origins that funnels and complicates access.

Inside the summit enclosure an open place-of-arms, or central patio, holds the main cistern. The late-medieval interior arrangement, with dependencies used as store-rooms and supporting spaces, is known from the visit books of the Order of Santiago and reflects the order’s organisation when the castle served as their commandery.

Excavations have revealed the remains of Arabic baths with richly finished decorative work, and nearby lie dungeons that date to the Muslim period. These elements survive in situ and testify to the site’s Islamic-era facilities. A rectangular building close to the entrance tower has been interpreted as the refectory; its construction relationships suggest it was reworked during the Peninsular War and may have served then as a powder magazine.

A chapel from the thirteenth century stands within the enclosure in a Gothic–Mudéjar style, Mudéjar referring to Islamic-influenced decorative forms produced under Christian rule. Built of brick, the chapel has a single nave and a semicircular apse decorated with blind horseshoe or overpassed arches, and the building was strongly remodelled during restoration work in the 1960s. The chapel is oriented to the east as is customary.

The Torre del Homenaje, the keep, is a rectangular tower considerably larger than the others, rising to about eighteen metres in height. Its exterior plan measures roughly 12.21 by 13.50 metres with walls around 2.19 metres thick. The lower level contains two parallel vaulted naves, about 10.37 by 3.50 metres, roofed with brick barrel vaults. The keep displays merlons and crenellations on its parapet and includes several windows, one showing Mudéjar influence, while doors and window arches are built of brick with semicircular profiles.

Wall-walks run around the perimeter of the enceinte except at the keep, and these passages were historically covered with wood and tile. Each tower contained internal chambers, one of which was used for “dormir velas,” a phrase recorded in the site’s accounts. From the wall-walks defenders could observe the approaches across the valley and the town below. The principal cistern attributed to the Order of Santiago has regular masonry exterior walls, an interior coat of limewash to ensure waterproofing, and a roof that may have been formed by rows of tiles. The complex bears the marks of nineteenth-century burning, episodes of neglect and the subsequent conservation and restoration efforts undertaken since the 1960s.