Castle Day, part 3

The third castle we visited was the ruins of Alarcos. I am almost 100% certain that part of the movie Gladiator was filmed here.

Alarcos sits on a stout hilltop over the headwaters of the Gudiana River, several miles to the west of Calatrava la Vieja. The sight was originally occupied by Iberians, the pre-Roman, pre-Carthaginian people of Spain, as early as the sixth century BC. It remained occupied for several centuries, with at least two different phases of construction.

In the twelfth century, Alfonso VIII of Castile decided to fortify the site and construct a new city in the region. On the uppermost part of the hill, the foundations of a large castle were laid out, and the lower flanks of the hill were occupied with the structures of the new town. In conjunction with Calatrava la Vieja, the two forts would allow the Castilians to control the entire Campo de Calatrava, which at the time was the central frontier with Almohad-controlled Al-Andalus.

In 1195, the Almohad Caliph decided to challenge the Castilian defensive system, and sent an army against Alarcos. Alfonso VIII rushed his forces south from Toledo to defend the site, without waiting for promised reinforcements from his cousin, Alfonso XI of León. The Castilians were badly beaten on the plains south of the new castle. The King barely escaped, and his alferez (standard-bearer), Diego Lopez de Haro, defended Alarcos against the besieging Almohads for several days, until he negotiated a surrender which allowed him and his forces to retreat.

The defeat at Alarcos badly affected Alfonso VIII, and left Castile open to attacks from the Almohads. Calatrava la Vieja fell shortly thereafter, and soon the Muslim forces were harassing Toledo itself. Alfonso was forced to negotiate a ten year truce, which accepted the Muslim conquest of La Mancha.

In 1212, Alarcos was recaptured by the Castilians, though it was decided soon thereafter that it was not an ideal site for a new city. The colonial experiment was moved a few miles to the east, to the present Ciudad Real. Only a small hermitage remained at Alarcos.