CASTLES CORIA

Castillo de Coria is a pentagonal keep fortress constructed between 1473 and 1478 by master builder Juan Carrera for García Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba de Tormes. Located in Cáceres, Extremadura, this 15th-century castle stands as an outpost of the city's ancient fortifications, built atop reformed Roman defensive structures. The five-story tower features a crenellated terrace and distinctive semi-circular defensive tower, earning its designation as a Cultural Heritage site in 1988.

Puerta de San Francisco penetrates Coria's ancient city walls in Cáceres, Extremadura, where Roman fortifications dating to the 3rd-4th centuries were enhanced with Arab and medieval modifications. The gate's name derives from its proximity to a former Barefoot Franciscan convent outside the city walls, though it is also known as Puerta de la Cava for its closeness to the castle moat, or Puerta del Rollo for its location near the medieval jurisdictional plaza. Opened either in the 14th or 16th century depending on historical accounts, this surviving gateway connects the historic Plaza del Rollo with the broader fortified complex and represents centuries of strategic urban defense architecture.