Fernán González Tower and Siege Weapons

On the edge of Covarrubias' old town, beside the Arlanza, stands the tower that Count Fernán González had built to watch over the river ford. The Diputación de Burgos presents it as the first Castilian defensive construction, and today it holds an exhibition of medieval siege weapons that is among the largest in Europe.

The tower

According to its managers, the count built it in the year 942 on the foundations of an earlier construction, probably Roman, to stop Muslim raids. It was a freestanding tower, with arrow slits and battlements, and with the only entrance some 15 metres off the ground: you climbed a movable ladder to a horseshoe-arched door on the south face, and in case of danger the ladder was withdrawn. Today you enter by a staircase perpendicular to the tower.

It has the shape of a truncated pyramid on a rectangular base, and you can tell it was built in several phases: large unworked stones below, rubble masonry in the middle and ashlar above. The ten machicolations were added in the 14th century, during the first Castilian civil war, and in the 19th century its owners, descendants of the count, roofed it so they could use it all year round; the red roof is not the original finish. It was declared a monument in 1931.

It is also called the tower of Doña Urraca, because legend says Fernán González shut his daughter in here for refusing to marry the king of León and having a love affair with a shepherd.

The siege weapons exhibition

The show, prepared with the historian Rubén Sáez Abad, brings together weapons from the 7th to the 15th centuries, from both the Muslim and the Christian worlds, and is organised according to the three phases of a siege: long-range fire against the walls, the approach and the assault. There are full-size machines and large-format models, all operational, as well as the soldiers' equipment (swords, spears, helmets and shields), farm tools adapted for war and the banners of the peninsular kingdoms. The pieces have been reconstructed from manuscripts, reliefs and archaeological finds.

Hours, prices and booking

From 10 October to 20 December 2026 it opens on Saturdays, Sundays and national public holidays from 11:30 to 14:30, and also on Monday 12 October and 2 November and Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 December at the same hours. The last entry is 35 minutes before closing, and the hours depend on the weather. It is not open on the weekends of local festivals.

General admission, €6; children aged 5 to 12, €3.50; over-65s, €4.50. On Saturdays and Sundays there is a guided visit at 12:00, with a €2 supplement. A group of 1 to 5 people can ask for a private guided visit for €50 in total. Groups of 15 or more pay €4.50 per person and can go outside opening hours, with a reservation. Book by WhatsApp on 677 534 267 or at [email protected]. It is at plaza de Doña Sancha, 7, a short walk from the collegiate church.