The castle at Aguilas, known as Castillo de San Juan, is an eighteenth century artillery fort perched on a hilltop overlooking the port. It is a short climb to reach the top and you are rewarded with impressive views and also a lovely cafe.
Visiting Aguilas Castle
Aguilas Castle is a very easy visit as it is in the centre of the town and very visible. I am not sure that you can actually drive up to it and if you can, parking is certainly very limited. We parked on the harbour where there was a large and free car park. From there it was a few minutes walk to the colourful steps that then joined the access road. This looped up the hill for maybe 5 minutes walk before reaching the restaurant and the lift that went up to the castle itself, or steps if you preferred to do that. I think entrance to the castle was €2 each.
My Experience
From the harbour it is about 10 minutes walk to the castle entrance. As you enter the castle there are spiral stairs going up onto the roof and also down to barracks and storerooms. The ground floor level has various rooms spanning off from the central courtyard and each had a separate exhibition or display. These seemed to cover the history and living conditions in the fort, geology of the area wildlife etc but they were all in Spanish so I didn’t pay too much attention.
The lower floor had exhibitions about barrack life, I think but the stairs to the roof took you to the gun deck with the views over the port and coast. There were a couple of cannons there too. The castle is a heavily restored version of the eighteenth century fort that, along with its thirteenth century predecessor, was built to defend the coast against Moorish pirates. The original castle was destroyed by earthquakes and the eighteenth century one was just allowed to fall into ruin.
Facing the entrance to the main fort is a walkway to the battery of San Pedro. This had no cannons but there was a room that looked like it was being prepared as another museum or exhibition. We finished our visit with coffee on the terrace of the restaurant by the lift.
Aguilas Castle Photo Gallery
History
San Juan Castle, locally known as Castillo de San Juan, lies on a ridge, next to the sea and above the town of Águilas, in the province of Murcia in Spain. It is also known as Castillo de San Juan de los Águilas to distinguish it from its namesake Castillo de San Juan de los Terreros, some 10 kilometers to the south in Almería.
The settlement of Águilas was first mentioned in the 11th century, as being a harbor for the town of Lorca.
The present castle was preceded by a watch tower, called San Juan Tower, which was built in 1579 for the defense of the harbor. In 1751 that tower had become so ruinous that it had to be demolished. It was replaced by San Juan Castle, which was finished in 1756, during the reign of Charles III of Spain.
San Juan Castle was commissioned by Colonel Don Sebastián Feringan Cortes. It consisted of a horseshoe-shaped artillery fort for coastal defense and a battery on the other end of the ridge. Both were connected with each other by a protected walkway.
In 1823, during the conflicts between royalists and constitutionalists, the castle changed hands but without any combat, saving it from any damage. It wasn’t saved from neglect and abandonment in later decades and so, by the end of the 20th century, it was nothing more than a ruin.
In recent decades San Juan Castle was completely rebuilt. It now houses a small museum.
At present San Juan Castle can be visited for a fee. A nice little castle on a beautiful location.
References
The Murcian travel site here has a fabulous write up on the castle and some great aerial views that allow you to really appreciate the location.
The history above is taken from the castle.nl site here.