The Castle of Tarifa ( es, Castillo de Tarifa), also known as Castle of Guzmán el Bueno ("Good Guzmán", nickname of

Alonso Pérez de Guzmán Alonso Pérez de Guzmán (1256–1309), known as ''Guzmán el Bueno'' ("Guzmán the Good"), was a Spanish nobleman and hero of Spain during the medieval period, the founder of the line from which the dukes of Medina Sidonia descend. Biography ...

) or Castle of the Guzmáns (

being the founder of the line from which the dukes of Medina Sidonia descend) is a castle in the coastal town of

Tarifa Tarifa (, Arabic: طريفة) is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

History

The castle was built in 960 by

Abd-ar-Rahman III ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil () or ʿAbd al-Rahmān III (890 - 961), was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 9 ...

Caliph of Córdoba A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

. When Tarifa was taken over by the king of Castile, Sancho IV in 1292, the castle was handed over to

for its defense. Pérez de Guzmán got the nickname of "Good" (''el Bueno'') by refusing to hand over the castle in 1296 to the besieging forces of the Infante Don Juan, the rebellious brother of the king Sancho, and the

Marinid The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...

s, in exchange for the life of his son. Recently refurbished, the castle is open to visitors. The coast and mountains of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

are visible from its towers.

References

Buildings and structures in Tarifa Military history of Al-Andalus Castles in Andalusia Province of Cádiz 10th-century fortifications 17th-century fortifications {{Al-Andalus-stub Moorish architecture in Spain Architecture of the Caliphate of Córdoba