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Castle of San
Vicente de la Barquera |
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Also between the 13th and
15th centuries, a strong development of the military
architecture took place in Cantabria. On the one hand,
there are castles, which are generally public, with a
regular construction and somewhat complex in structure
although of small size. In spite of being in the coastal
villages, as is the case of the castle of San Vicente
de la Barquera or San Felipe, now
disappeared, in Santander, these castles were
designed with a defensive purpose in land attacks. On the
other hand, the tower appears as the most typical
defensive device in Cantabria. Being owned by lords,
these towers were built due to the struggles between the
local noble families. Those in the rural area may only
have one defensive body or be surrounded by a fence and
have a moat, as happens in the towers of Estrada, Cabanzón, etc., turning
in the 14th century into the more horizontal
tower-houses, with more bay windows and a less marked
military character. Among these are the Don Borja and El
Merino towers in Santillana del Mar. |
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