The Castle of Polop de la Marina, a municipally owned fortress overlooking Spain’s Marina Baja region, has been restored through a five-phase effort led by architects Santiago Varela Botella and Santiago Varela Rizo. The hilltop site, about 200 meters above sea level, historically controlled views of the coastline and the Guadalest and Algar valleys, with surviving walls that still show a double enclosure protecting a cistern, a masonry tower, and other rectangular structures.

Built in the early 12th century with rammed-earth walls, known locally as tapial, set on masonry plinths cut into bedrock, the fortification suffered major deterioration over time. The architects point to long-term abandonment, a cemetery added in the mid-19th century, changes to the access path, modern fencing, and pine growth as key factors that accelerated damage in the northern and western areas.

The project’s phased approach is familiar to mason contractors who work in preservation. It included crack and void consolidation across multiple wall runs, buttress reinforcement, and removal of inappropriate finishes and infill. It also rebuilt a demolished tower using traditional timber formwork sized to match the original tapial modules, restored a second tower for visual continuity, and used ground-penetrating radar to confirm the alignment of a buried wall before shaping a pedestrian path that respected the cemetery footprint. Later work included consolidating a bastion, reconstructing the cistern’s vaulted ceiling, and removing pine trees.

One of the most practical takeaways for restoration crews is the mortar strategy. Collapsed sections were rebuilt using traditional formwork and a lime-based mortar with white cement added to speed curing and meet administrative timelines. Where a modern masonry parapet had been built on top of the wall, the team chose not to demolish it for ecological reasons. Instead, they kept the masonry, coated it with a compatible-looking mortar, and incised markings in the finish to echo the rhythm of the original rammed-earth construction, while still signaling the intervention.

Read the full, original article from Metalocus here.