Torre de la Minyona, Defensive tower in Cardona Castle, Spain.

Torre de la Minyona is a stone defensive tower within Cardona Castle with a height of 13 meters and a base diameter of 10 meters. The structure sits at an elevation of 573 meters above sea level and remains an integral part of the castle complex that welcomes visitors year-round.

The tower dates from the 11th century and formed part of Cardona Castle. In 1812, during the Peninsular War, its upper floor was cut down and removed, leaving it close to its present appearance. The sources give its original height as almost twenty metres and its current height as 13 metres.

The tower's name comes from the legend of Adalés, daughter of the Duke of Cardona, who was imprisoned in the round tower after her love for the Muslim prince Abdalà was discovered. The servant who brought her bread and water through the ceiling was blind and mute. Before dying, she scratched a cross into the door with her nails; locals say Abdalà's ghost rides to the tower at midnight.

The tower is accessible as part of visits to the castle complex and requires navigating the fortified grounds at elevation. Daytime visits in good weather offer the best conditions to examine the structure and see the surrounding landscape clearly.

The sources give two different heights: the Catalan article states 13 metres, while the Spanish article says 24 metres, and both agree the tower once reached almost 20 metres before 1812. Its isolation on the Cardona ridge made it suitable both as a powder magazine and as a secure prison, and the legend adds that Adalés was shut in a round tower of the castle.