Did You Ever Go To Coca Castle?

The Castle of Coca, also known as “Castillo de Coca” in Spanish, is situated in the province of Segovia in Spain. Building this luxurious castle took more than ten years and its construction began in the late fifteenth century by Alonso de Fonseca, the archbishop of Seville.

The name “Coca” was given to the castle because of its proximity to the small town of Coca which used to be “Cauca” in the Roman era. This castle is one of the most important in Spain not only because of its age, but also because of its unique architectonical style and its strategic position.

This castle is special and different to many other medieval castles because of the direct Moorish influence in its interior decorations. Unfortunately, the Mudejar style in the interior has been lost as centuries have passed, more notoriously when during the XIX century most classical columns were removed from the courtyard.

Because of the flat landscape in which the castle was built, it was possible for a moat to exist. This moat was the first line of defense against and attack and even though it was dry, it could potentially slow down an invading army. For the castle itself, bricks were mostly used. Some of the castle’s walls were up to 2.5 meters thick – strong enough to easily withstand a siege.

At a first glance, the Caste of Coca does not seem as a mighty military fortress. Nevertheless, this is a very strong concentric castle for the main square is protected by three walls each with many towers especially designed to give an advantage to the defending archers.

When gunpowder was incorporated into medieval warfare, the Castle of Coca suffered some minor modifications to support fire weapons. Fortunately, these were rarely used and the Castle of Coca was mostly used as a way to show Segovia its own power and to potentially stop any invaders.

Today the castle may be visited only with a tour guide and it is just an hour away from Segovia. The castle is now a school owned by the Alva family in which foresters are trained in the inner bailey. Unfortunately, most parts of the castle are off-limits for all tourists – including many tunnels and the moat.