Castillo Palacio de los Ribera - Bornos - Andalusia

This is a unique palace was built in the Fontanar castle, then of Arab origin and of which only parts of the old wall and the Torre del Homenaje have been preserved.

The castle was restored in the 16th century and transformed into a Plateresque palace by the Enríquez de Ribera family.

The oldest part of the castle is formed by a very robust tower, with a quadrangular plan - the Torre del Homenaje.

A large door, once plated in bronze, gives access to a large patio, surrounded by a beautiful cloister with high arches , above which protrudes a large upper gallery with arcades of the same class and pointed arched balustrade . In the center of the patio is a marble fountain brought from Italy with the coat of arms of Los Ribera, one of the families best adapted to the evolution from noble warrior to noble cult.

Some very interesting gargoyles appear on the arches of the first section and in the upper northern gallery there is a portal decorated in the late Gothic style, decorated with a frieze around it consisting of rough lions, mythical animals and fallen leaves.

The building is completed by beautiful Renaissance gardens, declared a Historic Garden of Cultural Interest, inspired by the Belvedere of Bramante, in the Vatican, designed by the Italian gardener Salvador Sepadano

Willem Vandenameele