Calatrava la Vieja

Fortress in the province of Ciudad Real, Spain, on the River Guadiana in the district of Campos de Calatrava. During the Middle Ages it was considered the key defence of the Sierra Morena, a low mountainous area which forms the boundary between the Castilian plateau and Andalusia. It was taken from the Moors in 1147, and a Cistercian order of soldier monks, the Knights of Calatrava, was founded here in 1158.

Sierra Morena forms the boundary between La Mancha or New Castile and Andalusia. During the Reconquista it was a natural defence line for the Moors in rich Andalusia. The Campos de Calatrava forms the entrance to the Despeñaperros – the natural routeway from Castile into Andalusia. Control of the Calatrava area meant control of the entrance to the pass and the gateway to the south.