ARCHITECT, Spanish
(active 15th century in Castile)

View of the castle

15th century
Photo
Coca, Segovia

The town of Coca, near Segovia, is known for its 15th-century Mudéjar castle, built for Alonso de Fonseca (1418 - 1473), archbishop of Seville, probably by Moorish workmen. Its elaborate brick decoration is a sign that the serious fighting was now over.

Built in a sandy, wooded land, poor in stone but rich in mudejar masons, it was naturally built of brick, as were the castles of Arevalo and Medina del Campo, and a multitude of churches in the area. But despite its brick construction, it is not Islamic in plan or disposition. In this respect it is completely Christian. The outer enclosure, with polygonal towers at the corners and semicircular ones on the walls, emerges from a huge moat with views of the artillery defences. Behind it rise the extremely strong walls of the main part of the castle, which repeat the polygonal and round towers of the outer enclosure. These polygonal forms are especially suited to brick construction.