{"id":21942,"date":"2025-04-03T18:19:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T16:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bodegasmontalvowilmot.com\/origenes\/la-orden-de-san-juan-de-jerusalem-orden-de-malta\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T19:27:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T17:27:54","slug":"the-order-of-saint-john-of-jerusalem-order-of-malta","status":"publish","type":"cpt_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/bodegasmontalvowilmot.com\/en\/origenes\/the-order-of-saint-john-of-jerusalem-order-of-malta\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ORDER OF SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM \/ ORDER OF MALTA"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Once the Roman Empire started to fall, we were \u201cvisited\u201d for almost 800 years, by another undeniable culture, the Arabs or, coming from North Africa, the Maghreb, the colloquially known \u201cMoors\u201d or Maghreb\u00ed people, who invaded almost all of the Iberian Peninsula, and in our case, they built the Castle of Pe\u00f1arroya. It was in year 1198 when the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem arrived in the region , also known later as the Order of the Knights of Malta , and together with the Order of Santiago, like any military and European religious Order of the time, they arrived with a fundamental target consisting of expelling the Muslim invader or \u201cinfidel\u201d as they were cathegorized at that time. They reconquered the fortress in 1215. The legend says that after reconquering the fortress, the sculpture of Our Lady of Pe\u00f1arroya was found in it, and thus it has been venerated ever since by the residents of Argamasilla de Alba and La Solana, who share the Patron.<\/p>

Actually, given the fact that the Church was the most important power group in Medieval Europe, the efforts to expel the Muslims consisted much more in military and political parades and in an attempt to preserve their power, than a mere religious conflict. And thus, Argamasilla de Alba, with the Castle of Pe\u00f1arroya and the monumental Church of San Juan Evangelista, became the most important center of power of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. In the fourteenth century Pe\u00f1arroya was still, without a doubt, the most important centre of the Order of Saint John from an economic point of view. The purpose of the fortress was to guarantee the economical control of the territory, the leasing of the pastures, the collection of taxes and the protection of peaceful neighbours, as well as a storage facility of goods or a \u201csafe\u201d for the Order.<\/p>

Strategically located over a tall cliff, where the Pe\u00f1arroya dam was later built, the castle preserves :<\/p>