The castle was built in the fifteenth century and has been declared a National Monument. It is the property of the House of Alba, assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture of Spain since 1954. A scale model of this castle is located in the Mudéjar de Olmedo Theme Park and another replica in Minimundus, Klagenfurt, ( Austria). Its construction, attributed to Moorish builders, was made in the 15th century mainly in brick, used not only as a construction material, but also as a decorative element; the limestone appears in the loopholes, the columns of the courtyard and other decorative...

The castle was built in the fifteenth century and has been declared a National Monument. It is the property of the House of Alba, assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture of Spain since 1954. A scale model of this castle is located in the Mudéjar de Olmedo Theme Park and another replica in Minimundus, Klagenfurt, ( Austria). Its construction, attributed to Moorish builders, was made in the 15th century mainly in brick, used not only as a construction material, but also as a decorative element; the limestone appears in the loopholes, the columns of the courtyard and other decorative elements. Its defensive system consists of three parts: the moat and two walled enclosures with turrets. In addition, it has a defensive bridge over the moat, which leads to the first walled enclosure; behind it, a curved door leads to the courtyard. The lower enclosure is square, and is flanked at its corners by four towers, the largest being the keep, covered in its interior by a narrow spiral staircase made of brick that allows access to various plants intended a chapel, weapons room and other rooms. The Weapons Room has a vault of Gothic ribs with mosaics decorated with geometric motifs of various colors. From the top of the tower you can see the castles of Cuéllar and Íscar. The town belonged to the Crown of Castile until in 1439 when was ceded to Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana , who in 1451 permuted it through the town of Saldaña with Alonso de Fonseca and Ulloa, Bishop of Ávila and Archbishop of Seville. In 1453, Alonso de Fonseca y Ulloa obtained from King Juan II of Castile royal permission to build the castle, although its construction was not started until several years later. When having to leave Coca, Alonso de Fonseca and Ulloa ceded in 1460 the rights of the town to his brother Fernando de Fonseca, who exercised them until his death in 1463 . Alonso died in 1473 as archbishop of Seville, and Coca was inherited by his nephew, Alonso de Fonseca and Avellaneda , son of Fernando, who carried out the construction of most of the castle, until it was almost completed in 1493 . From then on, it was a palatial residence and the setting for great parties, attended by notable personalities. In 1645, the castle was the prison of the Duke of Medina Sidonia , accused of having wanted to proclaim King of Andalusia . And later, by marriages, the castle became the property of the Casa de Alba. In 1808, during the War of Independence, the French occupied the town of Coca and their troops settled in the castle, which caused great destruction, and when they left in 1812 were just ruins. And in 1828, an administrator of the House of Alba without scruples sold materials of the castle, among them columns of marble of the patio, which accentuated still more his ruin. In 1926 , the castle was declared a National Monument . In 1931 it was declared a National Historic Monument and in 1954 it was ceded to the Ministry of Agriculture, being restored between 1956 and 1958 to house the Forestry Training School. Later parts of the castle rooms became the headquarters of the Forestry Training School, which is very popular among students from all over Spain : Since 1958, 39 promotions of Forest Foremen have passed through their classrooms. (translated from es.wikipedia.org)