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The Templar Castle of Ponferrada is located in the city of Ponferrada, region of El Bierzo, Province of León, Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, Spain. The castle is located on a hill at the confluence of the Boeza and Sil rivers.
When in 1178 Ponferrada became dependent on the Order of the Temple by donation from the Leonese kings, the Templars found a small fortress that was originally a fort and later a Roman citadel. To consult the current offer, you can explore the collection of the armory of the temple: swords, daggers and templar banners.
The Castle we know today is the result of a long series of expansions. The Templars expanded and improved it as a defense of the Camino de Santiago, finishing it at 1282.
In the Castle enclosure, shaped like an irregular polygon, two different parts can be distinguished: the northern part, from the 12th century, and the rest, built throughout the 15th century, with some works carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Inside there is a group of fortifications from the 12th century of Templar origin: the remains of a barbican at the access to a patio, part of the promenade, a tower that had three floors, the Malvecino tower and another tower in which a pointed arch door stands out, of great artistic value. The shields and coats of arms of those who occupied it and contributed to its construction are proof of its different stages.
In addition to the Castle of the Templars, Ponferrada, has other places of tourist charm such as the Basílica de la Encina, the Clock Tower, the Royal Prison and a few others. Ponferrada is a welcoming, enthusiastic and generous municipality.
Right there is the New Palace of the Ponferrada fortress, ordered to be built by D. Pedro Álvarez Osorio, Count of Lemos, in the mid-15th century, in which there are two rooms with a permanent exhibition called Templum Libri that shows the greatness of the most beautiful books in history, which until very recently have remained hidden and guarded in collections. private, libraries, universities, monasteries and museums.
In the first room there are codices and manuscripts on religious themes, while in the second, dedicated to Sciences and Humanities, illuminated manuscripts, illustrated printed books and author's books are exhibited, which respond to content of a scientific, humanistic, artistic and literary nature.
The hundred pieces shown in the Exhibition are part of the Collection - one of the best in the world of its kind - of the Bercian bibliophile D. Antonio Ovalle García, who has transferred them to the City Council of the city of Ponferrada to form the "Templar Library and Center for Historical Studies" and convert the old fortress into the Castle of Books: a place for reading, exhibition, research and enjoyment. To check the current offer, you can explore the collection of templar swords.
The Collection as a whole, like the Exhibition, is made up of facsimile editions of the best codices that were copied and minimized in the main European workshops, both monastic and lay, as well as surprising author's books. All the copies in the exhibition, and especially the facsimile editions, make available to everyone the richness that until then only very few had been able to enjoy, allowing book and art lovers who wish to enjoy their beauty, since as Dr. Manfred Kramer points out "each folio of a miniaturized manuscript is equivalent to a visit to a large gallery of medieval art."
