Hornillos de Cerrato Castle

Hornillos de Cerrato Castle lies, in the village by the same name, in the province of Palencia in Spain.

The ruin of Hornillos de Cerrato Castle are situated on a hill that dominates the village. The castle is constructed of white ashlar masonry. Only half of the original, square castle remains, the other half has completely gone. The present ruins consist of two round towers, the complete eastern curtain wall between them and parts of two other curtain walls. The castle dates back to the 16th century although it was built on the site of a previous castle.

There are several large windows and loopholes in the remaining walls. In the north wall there is an, half buried, arched doorway.

The castle had 3 floors and the towers had four. And in the holes in the walls there are still remnants of the wooden beams that supported these floors. The castle was surrounded by a low defensive wall which has completely vanished. It is possible that there also was a moat. In the 11th century the Hornillos de Cerrato family had family links with Don Nuño de Vizcaya and in the 15th century with the Enríquez family.

In 1541, the castles of Cordovilla el Real, Palenzuela and Hornillos de Cerrato, then controlled by Don Fadrique Enríquez, Admiral of Castile and Don Juan de Tovar, Lord of Astudillo, revolted against King Juan 2 and his favorite Don Alvaro de Luna. Protected in their castles, the rebels committed cruel acts in the surrounding area and occupied the fortress of Baltanás and other towns in the Cerrato area.

The last Lord of Hornillos de Cerrato was the Marquess of San Vicente in the middle of the 18th century but at that time the castle was already ruined.

Hornillos de Cerrato Castle is now a romantic ruin inhabited by crows. It has some nice architectural details. And the rubble hill in the central part of the castle contains lots of archaeological finds; I could see several medieval pottery shards and glass fragments just lying around. The site is freely accessible.

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