Art, Travel and Culture: The castle of Ucero

'Suddenly I realized that the driver was leading the horses into the courtyard of an immense ruined castle, in whose high and dark windows there was not a single glow, and whose crumbling battlements cut their jagged silhouettes against the sky illuminated by the Moon...'.
[Bram Stoker: 'Dracula', Edition Círculo de Lectores, 1993, page 24]

I am of the opinion that there is nothing like a castle in ruins, to feed, at least, fantasy. The castles are a symbol; a symbol closely linked to the Peninsular History. It is difficult to travel to any province of Spain, and not meet any.

As witnesses of a visceral dispassion as regards the respect and conservation of our Heritage, the great majority barely make stumps that, like a rocky ossuary, languish irretrievably in high places, difficult to reach and above all, lonely, waiting for that final blow of time. If we are to be fair, he has not been the only executioner. This is the case, without a doubt, of the Ucero castle.

Possibly due to its solitude and its complete isolation, given its location at the top of the mountain, from where the village of Ucero and the entrance to the Canyon of the Lobos River are overlooked, it has always reminded me of this passage of the immortal and terrifying novel of Stoker

And yet, when one enters the interior of its mutilated walls, and observes the less than complete conquest of the weeds and infinity of weeds, the sensation undoubtedly changes and the subconscious, unstoppable as a wild horse, awakens forgotten myths of childhood.

Maybe Walt Disney was inspired by a place like this to place the ideal scenario of the enchanted castle of the Sleeping Beauty, with the difference that in the case at hand, the glass coffin would have to be replaced by the only object that, to me understand, still retains some importance: the keep.

Given the state in which it is found, it is difficult to specify why strange spell, still still standing. Of course, although accessing its interior does not involve any difficulty - saving, yes, some dune debris - it does suppose a serious physical risk, as far as the danger of landslides is concerned.

If we except the coat of arms, which is still glimpsed with some slack on the main access door, there is no other ornament than that which can be seen precisely in the tower, both outside and inside.

A properly Goetic or magical decoration, characteristic of an innovative and revolutionary style that, according to some sources -among them, the enigmatic author of French origin, Fulcanelli- was introduced in Europe by the Templars: the Gothic.

It should not be strange, therefore, that a glance at said ornamentation provokes a certain resentment in the spectator, because his gargoyles, of little less than demonic features, make up a fantastic little army, constituting the only and silent guardians of such a solitary place.

Inside, however, are other guardians who guard an Agnus Dei difficult to observe with the naked eye, not so much by the darkness, as by the height at which it is. I mean, the curious and enigmatic figures that, like skewers, are located in each of the four corners.

NOTICE: originally posted on my blog SORIA WAY WALK WALKING. Both the text and the photographs are my exclusive intellectual property. The original entry, where you can check the authorship of juancar347, can be found at the following address: https://juancar347.blogspot.com/2010/04/el-castillo-de-ucero.html

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