Enfesta Castle (cat. El castell d’Enfesta) is located in the enclave of Enfesta, in the municipality of La Molsosa, region of Solsonès (Lleida province, Catalonia, Spain). It was declared Cultural Good of National Interest by means of the decree published in the BOE (Boletín Oficial del Estado – official state gazette) on May 5th, 1949. It is currently undergoing restoration.
It is located on the south-east side of the Enfesta plain, on a hill, at 531 m a.s.l., it raises 35 meters above the aforementioned plain.
History
It is a gothic style castle (14th-15th centuries), earliest written record of the castle was in 1081. It was the residence of the lords of Enfesta, castellans who administered the place on behalf of Viscounts of Cardona. It also appears mentioned in 1314, when in the vescomtat (later county and duchy) of Cardona it was part of the cardonina administration of city hall of Torà.
Architecture
It is a building of quadrangular floor plan with a facade, constructed with ashlars, it is about 15 meters long, is facing west, and of a one roughly same height. Currently, and for the benefit of the area, it is under restoration. Within the building there is the church of Santa Maria, which was the village’s worship place until 1975, when the ruinous state of the building forced a suspension of its use.
The façade has two semicircular arch portals. The center one is the entrance to the castle, it has 80 cm in the rise of the arch, 310 cm in height, 70 cm in clear span and it has 11 voussoirs which are 95 cm long and 9 to 42 cm wide. The smaller left portal is the entry to the aforementioned Santa Maria church. It has 51 cm of the rise of the arch, 208 cm of height, 61 cm of clear span, and it has 10 voussoirs, that are 62 cm long and of unequal widths. The keystone carries a relief of a Celtic cross framed in two concentric circles rather than one as it is usual.
The castle dominates the entire Enfesta plain located to the west, with a perfect view of the entire tower of the Ballester Castle of Castellfollit de Riubregós, located 2.4 km to the west. On the other hand, the tower of the castle of Calonge de Segarra, located just 1.3 km in a straight line, is not visible at all.
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