Castillo de Santa Olalla del Cala.
The castle of Santa Olalla del Cala rises from a rocky ridge in the Sierra de Aracena, in the province of Huelva, Andalusia. It was commissioned by King Sancho IV of Castile in 1293 as part of the Banda Gallega, a defensive line guarding the frontier against Portugal.
It was built over an earlier Muslim fortress, which itself may have occupied a Roman site. The walls follow the natural contours of the ridge, reinforced by ten towers — four round and six rectangular — and built from rough stone and brick.
Throughout the late Middle Ages, the castle saw several conflicts: the wars between Castile and Portugal in the 14th century, and the internal struggles that shook the Kingdom of Seville in the 1460s. Later, when its military value declined, the fortress took on humbler roles; for a time it even served as the village cemetery, with tombs carved into its inner walls.
