Castle of La Mota The Castle of the La Mota or Castillo de La Mota is a reconstructed medieval fortress , located in the town of Medina del Campo , province of Valladolid , Spain . It is so named because of its location on an elevated hill , a " mota " , from where it dominates the town and surrounding land . The adjacent town came to be surrounded by an expanding series of walls in subsequent years , of which little remains . It has been protected by the state since 1904 , first as a national monument and more recently as a site of cultural interest , or " Bien de Interés Cultural " . The castle itself was reconstructed in the twentieth century . Reconstruction was mainly pursued by the Falange government of Francisco Franco , who had a nostalgia for structures having links to the Catholic Monarchs . Overview . The castle ' s main feature is the large outer barbican . The interior castle has a trapezoidal plan , with 4 towers and a square yard . It has a large square keep tower , and an inner curtain wall that was used for archers . The castle was originally accessed through a drawbridge . It is made from local red brick , utlilizing stone only for some details . History . Initial fortification of the village , repopulated after Moorish depredations , led to the creation of a fortress on the site , starting in 1080 . The village soon grew alongside . In 1354 , Henry of Trastamara is known to have taken the fortress by force . In 1390 King John I of Castile granted the town to his son , the " infante " Ferdinand of Antequera , future king of Aragon . After the latter ' s death in 1416 , his son , John II of Aragon , in 1433 taxed local residents to help the construction at the Mota . During the following century , the castle and town changed hands between the rival kings of Castile and Aragon , with the castle and town being sometimes held by opposing sides . In 1439 , for example , the prince of Aragon locked the town gates , thereby imprisoning the Castilian king within the castle walls . In 1441 , the Castilian king was able to obtain the surrender of some 250 soldiers of Aragon within the castle . After the First Battle of Olmedo in 1445 , the castle came once and for all into hands of the Castilian monarchy . In 1460 , King Henry IV of Castile built the central tower . In 1464 , Henry gave the castle to the Archbishop of Toledo , Alonso Carrillo , who soon betrayed the king , and backed the rival claimant Afonso V of Portugal . After taking the castle by force , it fell by 1467 into the hands of supporters of King Afonso , while the village supported Henry . Subsequently , the castle was disputed between the princess claimant , Isabella of Castile and her cousin of dubious paternity , the princess Juana la Beltraneja . After a succession of owners , in 1475 , the crown of Castile reclaimed the castle , and built an artillery bastion , upon whose entrance are the heraldic symbols of the Catholic Monarchs , Ferdinand and Isabella . The castle became a prominent prison , and variously housed Hernando Pizarro , Rodrigo Calderón , Duke Fernando de Calabria , and Cesare Borgia , among others . Of these men , the last is known for having escaped from the nearly 40 meter high tower by climbing down a rope .