San Martin del Castañar Castle

San Martin del Castañar Castle is built facing the river Francia. The old chronicles already mentioned ti in the XV century as a palace castle and also as the home of Count de Miranda del Castañar´s daughter and her husband, a noble man from the village.

Its old splendor is not gone, as we can still enjoy a part of the tower keep and the walls of the main fence, which keeps the cemetery of the village. At the top of the tower there is a view point, which gives magnificent views of the area.

Outside the castle, the old inner ward has turned into the traditional bull ring of the village.

The medieval site which houses the Interpretation Centre and Visitors´ Reception of the Biosphere Reserve of the Sierras de Bejar and Francia has been carefully restored. It is an information centre about such a privileged environmental place.

Inside the building, the visit emphasizes the coexistence between the local and the global, the relationship between the human beings and their environment. Inside the fortress, “The reasons´ passage” (El Pasadizo de los Porques), “The great room of the world” and “The commitment table” let us know the essence of this Biosphere Reserve and its natural, cultural and ethnographic values, by means of some audiovisuals, natural materials and plays of light and sound.