Spain/Castilla La Mancha: Chinchilla de Monte Aragon
Wow! Best castle ever! This little village was absolutely surreal, like Isengard from Lord of the Rings coming alive! The town clings to the walls of a steep rocky hill, being fully surrounded by defensive walls all around; just walking around the town requires climbing up and up. On the top of the hill stands an absolutely best medieval fortress I have ever seen! It was built on the 15th century by Juan Pacheco, marquis of Villena. The rock is cut deep around it to create an enormous moat, with bridges in two places. The walls of the castle are massive and seem to rise to the sky. On three sides, the cliffs drop off nearly vertically where the walls end. It looks absolutely perfect and impenetrable. Unfortunately, the castle is not open for tourists and there is nothing inside the keep. From the windy top – there are never ending view of Castilla La Marcha province of Spain. No guidebook even mentioned this!
