Peralada Castle, Medieval fortress in Peralada, Spain
Peralada Castle is a fortress in the small town of Peralada, in the Alt Empordà region of Catalonia, Spain, built in Gothic style with Renaissance additions and later historicist interventions. Two corner towers mark the main facade, and the complex also contains a church, a cloister, a library, and two on-site museums.
A fortified structure stood on this site in the medieval period, and a major fire led to a thorough rebuilding in the 14th century. The complex was heavily restored in the 19th century, which gave it much of the appearance it has today.
The castle library is one of the largest private collections in Catalonia, with medieval manuscripts and early printed books still kept on shelves visitors can see up close. The wine museum nearby shows centuries of local winemaking through objects, tools, and bottles gathered from across the region.
The complex is accessible through guided visits that cover the main areas, including the library, the museums, and the cloister. Visitors should leave enough time to move between the different buildings, as the site covers a good amount of ground.
The Gothic cloister on the grounds was not originally built here but was moved from another location in Catalonia. This makes it one of the few relocated medieval cloisters in Spain that visitors can still walk through today.
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