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Name of castle: Coca
Location: Coca, Segovia
Country: Spain
Review
this castle
The castle of Coca was built in the late fifteenth century by Don Alonso de Fonseca, one of the most magnificent and
luxury-loving magnates of Castile. It lies in the province of Segovia but is close to the border of Valladolid. Cuellar, Arevalo, Olmedo, and Coca formed a square of great strategic importance.
Built in a sandy, wooded land, poor in stone but rich in mudejar masons, it was naturally built of brick, as were the castles of Arevalo and Medina del Campo, and a multitude of churches in the area. But despite its brick construction, it is not Islamic in plan or disposition. In this respect it is completely Christian. The outer enclosure, with polygonal towers at the corners and semicircular ones on the walls, emerges from a huge moat with views of the artillery defenses. Behind it rise the extremely strong walls of the main part of the castle, which repeat the polygonal and round towers of the outer enclosure. These polygonal forms are especially suited to brick construction.
| Luismi Laguna, 20, from Segovia, Spain,
wrote: |
| Coca, ciudad natal del emperador
Teodosio el Grande hay que ver la torre de ladrillo de su antigua
iglesia de San Nicolás desaparecida, pero sobre todo el magnífico
castillo gótico mudéjar. Levantado a partir de 1453 por iniciativa del
arzobispo de Sevilla fue realmente usado más como palacio que como
fortaleza. Los juegos de relieves de los ladrillos y el juego de
perspectivas de los adarves almenados más la gran torre del homenaje
hacen de éste uno de los más estupendos castillos de España |
| Scott Whipple, 40, from Arizona, USA wrote: |
| Coca was built around 1600, primarily as a residence.
Coca looks a bit too ornate to be taken seriously as a military castle,
but it features extensive crenellations and some very interesting
cross-and-orb holes, ostensibly for shooting. The construction is
entirely of brick, in alternating tan and white layers. The castle
is surrounded by a moat about 40 feet deep, and consists of three
concentric walls around a central tower. Coca castle is
currently used as a school, but is almost entirely accessible to
visitors. It lies about an hour north of Segovia, and is near Mota
castle, which is similar in age, size, and style. Of the two, Coca is perhaps slightly more interesting, but both are worthy
of a visit if you're in Segovia and/or driving north toward Leon.
We visited in May 1997, and spent about two hours walking around the
ramparts, climbing steep, narrow staircases up to the ramparts or down to the moat. In one of these, we encountered a
(non-poisonous) snake, which promptly slithered away into the moat. |
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