Video: The cave castle built by Serafin Villaran: the spirit of the Middle Ages in modern Spain
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The Ukrainian aphorist Danil Rudovoy has a wonderful expression: "If you dream, then do not deny yourself anything." Looking at the castle of Castillo de las Cuevas (Cave Castle) by Serafin Villaran, there is no doubt that this Spaniard's dreams are simply endless, and the perseverance with which he realizes them is truly heroic. Seraphin spent 20 years building this architectural wonder, now it is rightfully considered the main attraction of the province of Burgos.
The Spaniard Seraphin Villaran managed to prove to those around him and to himself that nothing is impossible in life. All his life he lived in Burgos, here he worked as an ordinary welder at one of the local factories. Until the age of 42, he did not even think about doing anything out of the ordinary, and after … he decided to build a huge castle, reminiscent of medieval architectural masterpieces in spirit.
Seraphin, without hesitation, bought a piece of land and began building a stone medieval castle. Without a special education, he relied only on intuition. I drew inspiration from books, stocked up with building materials … in the rivers Nela and Trueba. Over the years of painstaking work, the self-taught architect managed to build a huge five-story castle, decorated with round towers with loopholes.
Unfortunately, Seraphim Villaran died in 1998 without seeing his creation finished. The exterior work has come to an end, but the interior still needs some work. The father's business is continued by the children: daughter Yolanda and son Luis. Every year they invest about 2 thousand euros in construction work. Despite this, they do not plan to make the castle a tourist attraction, although they are very friendly towards tourists. Only the American Victor Moore, who built a fairy-tale castle from old cars, and the Krivovs, the authors of the Russian dream palace from construction waste, can compare in ambition with Villaran. …
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