The castle of Cocentaina (part I - general)

Now I have lost the status of "guest" with Jasmina and belong to the household, which means she jumped on the bed at sat on my chest at 7:15 this morning. We got up - what else is there to do, if there is a gentle (without claws) paw in your face? - and realised it is RAINING!
Well, it is good for the garden and definitely much needed here... and it gives me time to tell you some more about the town of Cocentaina.

The emblem of Cocentaina is the castle. It is a cube on top of a very steep rock above the town and, of course, you can see it from everywhere. Can you spot it in the photo with the sign and in the photo with the view from the road?
I thought, what a pity that I would never be able to get up there... but walking around town on Friday, I noticed a poster:

"Discover the charm of the castle in the course of history" during this weekend and especially this part:

Free transport from the palace to the foot of the castle (!!!) Limited places.

And while I was still trying to take those photos through the shop-window, the shopkeeper - a very nice muslim lady - came out: " ¡No hace falta. Llevatelo!" and she peeled off the tape and handed me the poster. Great, isn't it? Well, you might think they could have told me about this event in the tourist office?!
So, I decided to go there on Sunday.
This little bus drove us - we were only five people - through the outskirts of town and up the hill.

The last bit of the way we had to walk.

The castle dates from the end of the 13th century and is built in military Gothic style over ruins of a moorish building. It has two floors: on the first floor is a courtyard, a chapel and a storeroom, on the second floor were the living quarters with different rooms and bigger windows.

From the rooftop you have a great view over the whole area. I will write a new post about it after lunch.