Castillo de Selma

Castillo de Selma stands in the hamlet of Aiguamúrcia in the Alt Camp region of Tarragona, at an elevation of 750 meters overlooking a now-abandoned settlement. Founded in 977, the castle was granted to the Order of the Temple in the 12th century by Guillem de Sant Martí, remaining under their control until the order's dissolution. The Selma encomienda was formally established in 1196 under commander Ramón Soler. When the Templars were dissolved in 1308, their properties passed to the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem through an administrative transition completed by 1317. The castle stands in poor condition, with only scattered remains surviving from the medieval period; by 1847 the Castell de Selma had already fallen into ruins, leaving fragmentary evidence of its once-strategic position in the Templar defensive network.