Castle of Lorca

Medieval fortress on the hill above town, with two surviving towers

The Castillo de Lorca, often called the Fortaleza del Sol, dominates the skyline from a steep hill above the old town. The fortifications date from the Islamic period in their earliest layers and were extensively rebuilt and extended by the Castilians after the reconquest of 1244. Two great towers survive — the Torre Alfonsina and the Torre del Espolón — along with long stretches of curtain wall and a substantial Jewish quarter discovered during recent excavations.

The site is run as a heritage park, with a modern visitor centre, well-designed exhibitions on the three cultures that lived here, and a small synagogue museum inside the medieval foundations. Allow two hours, longer if you take the path all the way back down into the city centre on foot.

things to do sight
A story
The Torre Alfonsina was added in the late 13th century by Alfonso X of Castile after the Christian reconquest, and the deep cisterns dug into the rock beneath it once allowed the garrison to withstand long Moorish sieges. In 1990 archaeologists uncovered the complete remains of the medieval Jewish quarter — including the only synagogue ever discovered in Murcia — inside the castle precinct.