Torre de Xunqueiras, Medieval tower in As Xunqueiras, Spain
Torre de Xunqueiras is a 13th-century fortress in As Xunqueiras whose only surviving medieval element is the tall, austere keep, with a defensive batter at its base, narrow arrow slits and four corner watchturrets. Later additions in Renaissance and Baroque styles turned it into a palace, including a square Renaissance cloister finished in the early 17th century, with semicircular arches below and smaller columns above. A classicist doorway with a circular turret, later topped by a Baroque balustrade as a viewing terrace, faces the keep, and a plane-tree-lined path leads to a small walled French-style garden.
The tower was built in the 13th century by Fernán Martín de Xunqueiras and later rebuilt following the Irmandiña Revolt in the 15th century. This recovery reflects the structure visitors see today.
Eduardo Gasset y Chinchilla, owner of the pazo and patron of Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, linked the tower to the writer. Some scholars see the tower as the setting of his "Sonata de Otoño" and his son Gerardo Gasset as the model for the Marqués de Bradomín. In December 2010 the pazo hosted the filming of the documentary Este que veis aquí, with Xerardo Pardo de Vera as Valle-Inclán.
The property is private and visits are not permitted; it operates as a rural tourism house and hosts events and weddings. An independent dwelling inside the complex can be rented whole or by rooms. Access runs along a path flanked by plane trees to a small walled French-style garden.
The 16th-century cloister features semicircular arches and columns that connect to a circular turret converted into a viewing platform. This architectural detail blends two distinct periods in an unusual way.
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