Alonso de Fonseca y Avellaneda is credited with the castle. Construction began after the 1453 treaty, and most work was complete by 1493, while the infobox says only the 15th century. A master builder and an unnamed Moorish architect-engineer oversaw it. The style is Mudéjar brickwork blended with Gothic architecture, on a rectangular plan with three tiers of defense, a moat and a central keep about 82 feet (25 m) high. It uses hardened brick laid in geometric patterns, with limestone and plaster details.
The French occupied it from 1808 to 1812, and a fire destroyed the chapel ceiling. Columns and ornaments were sold in 1828, and some later returned. A restoration ran from 1954 to 1958.
The Spanish state has owned it since a 1926 decree, which also declared it a national monument. It reopened in 1958 as a forestry training school, and several rooms are open to tourists.
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