Castle of Ponferrada

The castle of Ponferrada, is situated in the Spanish city of Ponferrada, in the area of El Bierzo, territory of Leon. It remains on a slope at the juncture of the Boeza and Sil waterways. The Templar stronghold is situated in what was most likely a Celtic castro, in a position like that of others in El Bierzo. Later it is trusted that it was a Roman and Visigothic site. It is Romanesque in style. Towards 1178 the lord Fernando II of Leon permitted that the templarios built up an encomienda in the present Ponferrada. In 1180 the lord issued a contract to repopulate the town that had developed a century sooner, archiving the main fortress to 1187.

In 1196, preceding the assault of Alfonso VIII of Castile and because of the help that this kingdom got from the knights of the Temple, Alfonso IX de Leon, the crown that underpins the request of San Juan expels Ponferrada from the Templars. After a few debate, in 1211 Alfonso IX, makes harmony with the Order of the Temple gave the town of Ponferrada in return for giving these a few manors. Amid the reign of Ferdinand IV there was a preliminary in France against the Templars, which caused the disintegration of the Order. To keep away from the ensuing reallocation of Ponferrada, the Leonese ace of the Temple, Rodrigo Yánez, gave over the estate to the Infante Don Felipe, sibling of the lord.