A silent witness of 10 centuries of history
The ruins of the Castle of Pontós are located about 500 meters from the town center, on top of a small mountain known as the Castle District. The castle is documented since 1087 when the knight Arnau of Pontós is mentioned. That is, almost a century after the first mention we can find about the town of Pontós. Even so, the first mention of the castle itself was not found until 1209, when it was owned by Dalmau of Creixell. Since then, it changed ownership several times until it became an obsolete and abandoned site.
These types of castles were, in general, austere and small in size.
It is a “castell termenat” (jurisdictional castle), this means that it was not directly owned by any king, but was managed by a feudal lord who was the head of the entire area of influence of the castle. These types of castles were, in general, austere and small in size.
Pontós Castle is preserved in a very dilapidated and disfigured state because many of its remains were used to build several houses. Among what remains standing can be dis tinguished a construction part of the eleventh-twelfth centuries, and a larger part of the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries. The ruins of this castle have been declared a cultural asset of national interest.
At the northern end of the esplanade there is a cistern and a well, and among the ruins you can still see a small segment of about 10 meters of the castle wall.
The few remaining structures allow us to intuit the shape and magnitude of this building. It had a very elongated rectangular shape to adapt to the terrain and a chapel that has disappeared. Yet, a covered room with a back is still preserved. At the northern end of the esplanade there is a cistern and a well, and among the ruins you can still see a small segment of about 10 meters of the castle wall.