Castell d'Alaró
3
The Keep
You are standing before the most important building in any castle: the keep, popularly known in Alaró as Es Constipador.
In medieval documents it is referred to as the master tower, the weapons tower or the castellan’s house.
This is a three-storey tower that also serves as the gateway to the main enclosure. The outer doorway on the ground floor and the pointed arch leading into the Castle are made of sandstone specially brought up from the coast for this construction. It is the only building in the entire Castle made with this stone.
Doors were an essential feature of medieval fortresses and were true works of craftsmanship, designed to last and withstand blows during attacks. If you look at the outer door from inside, you can still see where the locking bar fitted into place. Above, you will notice the two stone pivots on which the doors turned. These were made of very hard limestone rather than sandstone. They were replaced in 1345 by order of Peter IV of Aragon.
On the principal floor, a small doorway, two round-arched windows and two arrow slits were built. The third floor, now lost, was made of pine wood from the Castle mountain itself. It was accessed by a wooden staircase and featured battlements, several arrow slits and a machicolation above the outer doorway, added at some point during the fifteenth century.
Whenever a new castellan — the person responsible for the castle — was appointed, an inventory was made of all the objects, weapons and provisions stored there. Only three inventories survive, but thanks to them we know what the tower contained in 1344, 1366 and 1374.
The tower mainly stored weapons such as shields, pavises, crossbows, lances and darts; armour including padded tunics, helmets and gorgets; and a large number of tools belonging to stonemasons, blacksmiths and carpenters, among many other objects, all of them property of the Crown.
In medieval documents it is referred to as the master tower, the weapons tower or the castellan’s house.
This is a three-storey tower that also serves as the gateway to the main enclosure. The outer doorway on the ground floor and the pointed arch leading into the Castle are made of sandstone specially brought up from the coast for this construction. It is the only building in the entire Castle made with this stone.
Doors were an essential feature of medieval fortresses and were true works of craftsmanship, designed to last and withstand blows during attacks. If you look at the outer door from inside, you can still see where the locking bar fitted into place. Above, you will notice the two stone pivots on which the doors turned. These were made of very hard limestone rather than sandstone. They were replaced in 1345 by order of Peter IV of Aragon.
On the principal floor, a small doorway, two round-arched windows and two arrow slits were built. The third floor, now lost, was made of pine wood from the Castle mountain itself. It was accessed by a wooden staircase and featured battlements, several arrow slits and a machicolation above the outer doorway, added at some point during the fifteenth century.
Whenever a new castellan — the person responsible for the castle — was appointed, an inventory was made of all the objects, weapons and provisions stored there. Only three inventories survive, but thanks to them we know what the tower contained in 1344, 1366 and 1374.
The tower mainly stored weapons such as shields, pavises, crossbows, lances and darts; armour including padded tunics, helmets and gorgets; and a large number of tools belonging to stonemasons, blacksmiths and carpenters, among many other objects, all of them property of the Crown.
The barbican
2
The hydraulic system