Castle · Anguita
Torre de la Cigüeña: The Watchtower Over Anguita and the Tajuña
The Torre de la Cigüeña is a watchtower of Islamic origin perched on a crag overlooking Anguita and the Tajuña pass. In the 10th century it likely belonged to the network of watchtowers with which Caliph Abd al-Rahman III fortified the Middle March frontier, alongside towers at Luzón and Torremocha. Restored, only one of its four original walls remains.
Lands and landscapes
From here, follow the memory of the territory
These readings connect Torre de la Cigüeña: The Watchtower Over Anguita and the Tajuña with the history, work, and villages around it.
This place across time
Which eras you can read here
A single place can preserve traces from different eras. These layers connect what you see with the stories in the atlas.
- Municipality
- Anguita
- Province
- Guadalajara
- Altitude
- 1,113 m
- Islamic watchtower
- 10th century
- Middle March
- Tajuña river
Sentinel of the pass
The village of Anguita clings to a narrow defile of the Tajuña, and above it, high on a rock crag, stands the Torre de la Cigüeña. From there the roads crossing the valley were controlled.
A network of towers
It is believed to have been part of an Islamic-era watchtower system, along with the Torre del Moro in Luzón and that of Torremocha. Its origin may date to the 10th century, when Caliph Abd al-Rahman III reinforced the border of the Middle March, the strip separating al-Andalus from the Christian kingdoms.
What remains
It was built of rubble masonry. It has reached us heavily ruined and, although restored, only one of its four sides remains standing, pierced by a small barrel vault. Anguita, which hosted the first Provincial Deputation of Guadalajara in 1813, stands at the beginning of the Tajuña gorges towards Luzón.
Location
● Reference point · ● Villages · ● Places
Location diagram. Detailed map with tracks and names loads on zoom.
Reference villages: Anguita · Aguilar de Anguita · Santa María del Espino · Luzón.
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