Sohail Castle

The first thing that strikes you as you approach Sohail Castle is its compact silhouette: eight stretches of wall, topped by towers at the corners, forming an octagonal enclosure. Today the hill on which it stands is cut off by the A-7 motorway, but for centuries it was joined to the ridge opposite by a shallow valley through which ran the so-called Marbella road, so anyone wishing to travel in either direction had no choice but to pass beneath its watchful gaze.

Its history begins long before the walls we see today. This was the site of the Roman town of Suel, from which the castle inherited its name. On its ruins, in 956, the Caliph of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III ordered the construction of a small citadel with dwellings, probably arranged around a watchtower, to strengthen the defence of the coast. In the 12th century, the Almoravids gave the defensive enclosure its present form, turning it into a true alcazaba.

The main entrance, facing north-west, invites you to follow the route taken by its former inhabitants: a ramp protected by a barbican and wall-walk leads up to a gate tower, the largest and tallest in the complex, notable for its horseshoe arch and defensive features. The thick walls, crowned by a wall-walk, link several flanking towers; among them, the tallest stands out to the north, where the original entrance was, along with another facing west that boasts battlements. Both are roofed, and you reach the top via a narrow spiral staircase.

It is well worth taking a close look at the stonework, as it tells the story of the site's long occupation. Rubble masonry sits alongside courses of brick, a technique widely used by the Romans, as well as rammed earth and the ashlar used to reinforce certain sections. Today, in addition to the main gate, there is a service entrance recently opened in the loopholed wall facing south-west.