Alarcos Medieval (Ciudad Real): With an area of 33 hectares, it is surrounded by a thick wall that is 3 m wide. It was built by breaking up some of the remains of the Oretani city, on which it is situated. Various techniques were used in its construction. The first of these was a masonry technique that rests directly on the quartzite rock. On top of this was the second technique from the same period, where a series of rammed earth walls cased in with stones, which were held together with lime mortar and pozzolan, gave it the greyish colour it possesses. Its corners were reinforced with ashlars carved with the mason’s mark. After the abandonment of Alarcos, this material was reused in Villa Real to construct the oldest public buildings.
The results of the investigation confirm that the town of Alarcos underwent a process of construction in the years immediately preceding 1195 and this is further attested by the construction materials that were found alongside the wall. The majority of the city is still hidden and only a small part of it has been uncovered. One of the secondary gates of the city is preserved. The main gate is probably situated further south.
- The castle: The castle is situated in the centre of the city and was the possible origin of such in the different stages of its history. It witnessed all of the historical changes that the county experienced. A castle from the first Islamic reign, of which there are ruins, settled on the Bronze Age and Iberian strata. From the conquest of Toledo in 1085 until the definitive conquest of Alarcos in 1212, the Alarcos castle underwent a transformation process that affected all of its structures. It was included in the same planning designed for the rest of the city by Alfonso VIII. As regards the exterior, the towers were rebuilt and even their shape was changed to adapt it to the new designs. In addition, other defence structures were added. The inside of Alfonso VIII’s castle was in the midst of the process of adaptation in 1195 and was not completed but the constructive remains that were found testify to the large-scale project that he intended to carry out. After the Almohad conquest after the battle of Alracos, the space inside the castle was readapted. It was organised with a system of paved streets that give way to a series of areas performing various functions: Bedrooms, kitchens, furnaces, latrines, etc. Access to all of these was through a paved courtyard.
- Chapel: Situated at the NE end of the hill, it is currently accessed through an opening made in the medieval wall. It has a Latin cross floor plan and is divided into three naves of different heights. The main nave is taller and wider than the lateral naves. The naves are separated by ten solid pillars with an octagonal base that support eight pointed arches, built from limestone. The interior has three portals; the first on the side of the epistles, the second at the end of the church has pointed arches with masonry jambs and the third, on the gospel nave side, has a segmental arch, alfiz and is made entirely of brick. At the end of the temple and above the door there is a tracery rosette composed of 19 lobes, all of which are contained in a square-shaped inset frame. The roofing is restored and is made of simple coffering. The original roof had a Mudejar appearance with a painted roof as appears in one of the side chapels. Its construction can be traced back to the Gothic style between the 13th and 14th Century, coinciding with the period of growth of Ciudad Real.
- The Battle of Alarcos: On 19 July 1195, Alarcos was the scene of the battle of the same name that took place between the Christians and the Almohads on the plains found between Alarcos and Poblete. After the Almohad victory and the attack on the town, the wall’s foundation ditches, which were still open, served as a place to throw in the remains of the battle. Both bodies of the defenders as well as some of the cavalry from the victorious army, are found. The remains of the ruined camp of Alarcos were also thrown into the ditches. Among these remains, arrow-heads, spears, princes’ swords, short knives, spurs, horseshoes, and other weapons, were distributed into the ditch with no set order. In addition, it represents a whole series of pieces that illustrated what the supplies of an army at that time were like: sickle to collect ripe grain, clothing adornments, die for games, flutes, pitchers and water bottles.
It is one of the forty locations in which the Military Order of Santiago resettled during the Middle Ages. Many of the hamlets became the villages seen today, but other hamlets, such as Jamila, were gradually abandoned during the 14th Century.
The origins of the preserved building are unknown: There is a hypothesis that states that the construction of the Order of Santiago was established on Roman origins. Another hypothesis states that the origins of the building were Medieval with various functions that could be administrative and for storage.
Jamilla - Villanueva de los Infantes
The building has a rectangular floor plan measuring 55 x 33 m and is divided into 3 large spaces. Main space: located to the south, there is an elongated nave divided in two by 14 cylindrical pillars of 1 m in diameter. The premises were most likely covered by wooden beams and a tiled gabled roof.The central space is a large open-plan courtyard where a silo was found that contained Iberian materials in its lowest section.
The north premises contain a habitable space divided into three rooms, which, due to the material found there, are thought to have been for domestic use. In this space, there is a cylindrical watchtower, which enabled visual contact with the castles of San Polo, Torres and Peñaflor.
