Torre de Venero

It is a late medieval fortress from the 13th and 14th centuries, built by order of Martín Sánchez del Castillo. It carried out defence work in the various local lordly struggles, in pursuit of the expansion of its lands and vassals, and as an ideal instrument for exercising its feudal lordship.

The Torre de Venero is a late medieval fortress. Its plan is square, about 9 m. on a side. Its walls, made of masonry rubble bonded with mortar, have a thickness of 70 cm. The elevation is about 10 m., divided into four storeys.

Its internal layout corresponds to the features of the late-medieval towers of Cantabria:
– Ground floor: for the guardroom, kitchen and stables.
– Main floor: with a hall for everyday life.
– Second floor: for the lords’ bedrooms.
– Third floor: for servants and armed men.
– Fourth floor: open to the sky and crenellated, used for defence and surveillance.

All the floors were connected by staircases, which could be easily removed in situations of external threat.

On the south façade, there is a doorway, of which only an arch remains with a clear span of 1.40 m. On the first floor there was a large window, capped with a semicircular arch, which gave access to a wooden platform, supported by four corbels projecting from the outer wall. On the second floor there are two small windows capped with pointed arches and two rectangular embrasures, with splayed openings towards the interior. All the façades are topped with a crenellated cornice, which has arrow slits in two crenels on each side of the building