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It was a medieval castle anchored to a hill just as ships do at sea. The hull covered with battlements, the rudder in the keep, the bow and stern making the Castilian fields its horizon and fine cellars at the base to put the best wine to good use. Sancho García shouted in 1013 that it would be "the most faithful Peña de Castilla", the lighthouse of a reconquest that forced the troops of the fearsome Almanzor to retreat from the Duero to an increasingly vulnerable Al-Andalus. This is how Penna Fidele was born, known by all as Peñafiel, who saw powerful kings, brave knights and the pen of the infante Don Juan Manuel, author of Count Lucanor and great of the Spanish letters whose remains rest forever in the town of Valladolid.
Peñafiel, together with its castle, was a fundamental point in the Duero's defensive line, both for Christians and for Muslims during the 9th and 10th centuries.
The castle of Peñafiel began to be built in the 10th century, although its current appearance is the result of the important interventions that took place during the 14th and 15th centuries. It is built with stone from Campaspero and is an interesting example of Germanic Gothic. Its dimensions are 210 metres long and 33 metres wide. It stands on a long, narrow hill that gives it the characteristic shape of a nave.
This castle is located on a hill from where the Duraton and Botijas valleys can be seen. Its exterior appearance is smooth and it has only one door. The homage tower with a slight north orientation, has a rectangular floor plan, exceeds 30 meters in height and 14.5 by 20 meters in base, is crowned by eight turrets and has three vaulted floors. The tower is flanked by two courtyards. The interior of the castle has two floors with a stone vault.
The origin of the name is due to the fact that it was reconquered by the Castilian Count Sancho García, who is credited with changing the original name of Peña Falcón to Peñafiel when Count Sancho García pronounced the famous phrase "from now on this will be the most faithful peña in Castile".
In 1442 the unfortunate prince of Viana was born here. Son of John II of Aragon and Blanca of Navarre. When his mother died, he was forced to rule the kingdom with his father's second wife. Disagreements arose and the kingdom was divided into two groups. The prince was imprisoned and died of poisoning after a few months.
It is considered one of the jewels of the Valladolid castles and one of the examples of the so-called rock castles in Spain.
The castle and its walls are visible from the village of Peñafiel, and the surrounding vineyards, making it a symbol of this wine region.
It was declared a National Monument in 1917.
Nowadays it is the headquarters of the Provincial Wine Museum Foundation of Valladolid, constituted since 1999 and becoming a real emblem for the wine tourism in Ribera del Duero.
The museum is one of the most visited in the community of Castile and Leon, for its beauty and cultural value.
The Plaza del Coso has been holding bullfighting festivals since the Middle Ages. With the castle in sight, it is a magnificent setting where wooden balconies decorated with different figurative forms surround the visitor. 48 buildings are part of a place that is put from boat to boat in the festivities of Santa Maria and San Roque in which bulls are released inside and outside the arena. Or in the Descent of the Angel on Easter Sunday, one of the key moments of the Holy Week in Peñafiel.
The convent of San Pablo before being a religious centre was the Alcazar de Alfonso X El Sabio. Although only a few remains remain from that period, today it is a first-class Gothic-Mudéjar architectural complex. At the foot of the street, in full view of everyone, is the brick apse considered one of the great masterpieces of this style. Arches and openings testify to the principles of a superb Mudejar on the exterior façade.
Once inside, in the church, we come across another artistic style, the Plateresque style of the 16th century to adorn the chapel of Prince Don Juan Manuel, whose remains rest in an adjacent urn and not in the exposed tomb. White limestone well carved sweetens and illuminates the last rest of the author of Count Lucanor. In a chapel full of ornaments one can sit for a long time to discover its many details and honor the tomb of one of the great writers who have given the Spanish letters. San Pablo was also the burial place of Juana de Aza, mother of Santo Domingo de Guzmán.
