Contents
It is one of the castles that the Catholic Monarchs incorporated into the Crown, which ordered the construction of the Adelantado of Murcia, Don Pedro Fajardo y Chacón named Marquis of the Vélez. Shortly after settling in Vélez-Blanco, Pedro Fajardo began the construction of the castle-palace on the remains of another Islamic citadel.
The initial idea was to build a castle with a Gothic structure, but, as it rose, the owners decided to lean towards the Renaissance style and leave the old medieval times behind.
The magnitude of its invincible walls is still intact and, although at first glance it appears peaceful, the castle-fortress-Vélez-Blanco was in its time one of the best military architectural works. In terms of structure, it occupies approximately 2,300 m2, with a polygonal plan around a patio. It has six towers, a front patio and a body to climb the first floor. The keep stands out, as well as the albarrana tower, the shields, the windows, etc.
Leaving on the A-92 highway, at a considerable distance you can see the silhouette of this jewel of the Spanish Renaissance. Unfortunately, only the exterior is preserved, since the decoration of the patio and rooms was sold at the beginning of the 20th century to the American George Blumenthal. The beautiful pieces acquired, of incalculable value to us, were used to decorate the main living room of his mansion on Park Avenue and can today be visited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
The courtyard includes Italian Renaissance details and is carved from Macael marble by artisans from Lombardy. After Blumenthal's death, approx. 2,000 marble blocks were transported to the Museum to recreate the Court of Honor as faithfully as possible, becoming one of the most important sculpture collections in the United States.
Over the decades, Velez society has demanded the rehabilitation of the castle since, legally, the pieces sold in 1904 cannot be recovered.
According to various sources, it is planned to begin 3D scanning work on the patio marbles, which have remained in the Metropolitan Museum since 1959, based on an agreement between the Andalusian Government and the New York museum, for their subsequent integration into the current castle patio.
