Tower of Malamoneda

Malamoneda Tower rises above the Cedena river valley at the foot of the Sierra del Puerco, in the municipality of Hontanar, in the southern part of Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha. Together with the nearby Malamoneda Castle, less than a kilometer away, it once formed part of a defensive network guarding the natural mountain pass carved by the Cedena through the Montes de Toledo.

How old is the tower, and who built it?

Archaeological evidence shows the site around Malamoneda was occupied continuously from the Neolithic period onward, with successive layers left by Vettones, Romans, Visigoths, and Muslim settlers. Following the Christian advance into the region, Mozarabic communities resettled the valley during the reign of Alfonso VII in the 12th century. The tower itself was raised in the 13th century, and its builders reused stone taken from Roman structures already standing nearby. Local tradition credits the Knights Templar with its construction, though no direct historical source confirms this — it remains a hypothesis passed down through regional history rather than an established fact.

Unlike the older castle just below it, the tower sits at a higher point on the hillside and is architecturally later, dating to the 13th and 14th centuries. It functioned as a watchtower overseeing the Cedena passage and as a refuge for residents of the small settlement of Malamoneda that grew up at its base.

Who controlled Malamoneda over the centuries?

In 1210, King Alfonso VIII granted the surrounding villages and fortresses, Malamoneda among them, to the nobleman Alfonso Téllez de Meneses, in recognition of his role in resettling the reconquered territory. Within the following decade, Téllez transferred these holdings to the Archbishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada. By 1246, the city council of Toledo had purchased Malamoneda outright for 45,000 gold maravedís, bringing the settlement under direct municipal control.

What happened to the original village?

The settlement of Malamoneda gradually declined. According to the Relaciones of Philip II, compiled in the second half of the 16th century, the nearby town of Hontanar was founded around 1376, likely as former Malamoneda residents relocated there once their own village began emptying out. Traces of a necropolis and a hermitage once home to Hieronymite monks can still be found on the old Malamoneda site today.

What condition is the tower in now?

The tower stands in a state of progressive ruin, and the wider archaeological site has repeatedly suffered looting of architectural fragments and artifacts. Despite this, the area remains freely accessible to visitors at no charge. As with most Spanish castles and defensive towers, it falls under legal protection through the 1949 heritage decree and Spain's 1985 Historical Heritage Law.

Frequently asked questions

Are the Malamoneda tower and castle the same building? No. They are two separate structures roughly 700 meters apart. The castle sits lower and is the older of the two, while the tower occupies higher ground and dates from the Christian period of the 13th and 14th centuries.

Can visitors go inside the tower? The site is open and free to visit, but since the structure is in an advanced state of ruin, visitors should exercise caution — there is no official tourist infrastructure or pathway on site.

Were the Knights Templar really responsible for building it? Regional tradition links the tower to the Templars, but no historical document proves this connection outright. It remains one hypothesis about its origin rather than an established fact.

Why did the village of Malamoneda disappear? Historical sources point to a gradual depopulation, closely tied to the founding of nearby Hontanar around 1376, where many of its former residents are believed to have resettled.