Known popularly in Beires as the “Castle of the Moors “, it is a fortification built by the Muslims, possibly around the first half of the 13th Century. It gained importance in the Nasrid Kingdom as a place of control for the River Andarax basin surroundings and as a tax collection centre.
It stands out in the region for its strategic importance, as from here you can see the whole valley and the natural entrance to the Alpujarras. For this reason, it is assumed that it must have had an important role in its time. As well as its surveillance function, it could have been a collection centre and for setting lines of defence. Downhill, on the eastern side of the Zambrón ravine, the old Medieval settlement of Beires was located, and relatively close there existed Nacimiento, with abundant water to be able to stock up in times of peace.
It was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest by the Junta de Andalucía in 1993, with the category of monument.
In the Arab period, Al-Udri mentions the existence of a castle for each agricultural district, called “yuz”, which means part or piece. He also mentions the existence of the castles for the regions, called “iklim”. Their function in the times of the King of Granada Abd-alá was military settlement, territorial concession and tax collection.
This construction would be classified as “rock castle” due to being small, appropriate for the strategic surveillance of a territory or way, and reoccupied on various occasions.
It is located on a plateau-shaped hill sloping to the south with a wide visual dominance over Beires and the other two nearby villages, Almócita and Padules. The simple walled enclosure shows an almost rectangular form of some 2,700 square metres. At its northern end there was a large “bastion”, or turret, of which there are remains.
From its western end there extended a long wall ending in a small “defensive tower”, which would serve as a watchtower and to repel the enemy as a zone of maximum resistance. What’s more, it protected an inhabited area outside the walls. There are still the remains of a water cistern.
There are many legends surrounding this monument, such as the existence of ancient treasure within the mountain from the taxes which were collected or of an old secret passage which connects with the foot of the mountain.
It is currently in a very poor state of conservation, awaiting excavation and detailed study, as well as a minimum consolidation intervention for your visit.
