Templar Castle of Ponferrada, Spain

This old twelfth-century templar castle dominates from high above the crossing of the river Sil in the city of the same name. This was one of the most important military positions of the Knights Templar in the Iberian Peninsula. Located in the Royal Winter Road to Santiago de Compostela, one of the missions of the Templars was to protect pilgrims traveling to the capital of Galicia. It is made up of a polygonal precinct, over 8,000 metres square, with double and triple defences, which made this place one of the greatest fortresses in the north of Spain during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

credit: Contando Estrelas