More than 4,000 people visit the Castillo de San Luis in its first month as an exhibition center

The City Council has recovered this enclave that has been hidden for years to turn it into a new cultural space in the city.
The Estepona City Council reports that more than 4,000 people have visited the facilities of the Castillo de San Luis one month after its inauguration as an exhibition center. After the excavation and recovery works, this 16th century fortress now converted into a museum has received an average of 150 visitors per day, of which almost 50 percent are foreign tourists.
The Castle of San Luis has been the object in recent years of an ambitious action for the conservation and recovery of this coastal fortress built in the last quarter of the sixteenth century and whose remains are located in the historic center of the city. The intervention has allowed the enhancement of these remains that have remained unused for almost a hundred years.
The objective of the intervention by the Consistory has been to recover this enclave that has remained hidden, and turn it into an exhibition space where you can learn about an important part of the history of Estepona. In addition to touring the facility, visitors can see first hand some of the archaeological pieces from different periods that have been obtained in the excavations carried out during the works, which have been displayed in the eight showcases set up in the exhibition area. Thus, artillery ammunition, religious objects, ceramics or an old shelter from the Spanish Civil War can be found.
The councilman attached to the area of Historical Heritage, Daniel Garcia, stressed the importance of this action developed by the City Council “to give visibility to this historical element that can now be enjoyed by all residents and visitors”. The recovery of the Castle of San Luis, recalled the mayor, has been a priority for the government team despite the difficulty of the intervention.
The project was developed in phases, being necessary first the acquisition, by the City Council, of the houses that were attached and kept hidden the remains. Subsequently, and after the conditioning of the entire environment, a thorough archaeological work was started for the cleaning, conservation, stabilization and consolidation of the existing remains, as well as the elimination of the vegetal elements attached to the structure.
The enclosure has a walkway that allows visitors to tour the interior of the castle and contemplate the remains of the different historical phases of the building that have been appearing during the earthworks and archaeological excavations carried out.
Finally, the project has allowed the installation of several panels and didactic audiovisual elements to help in the interpretation of the castle environment, as well as a space to exhibit collections with historical interest, thus putting in value the footprint and the remains of the castle.
The Castle of San Luis can be visited from 10.00 to 14.00 and from 17.00 to 20.00 hours, from Monday to Friday.
Historical value
This action in the Castle of San Luis has an enormous value, since a period of several centuries of the history of Estepona is made known through the visit to the monument, offering society a space full of history that contains floors of the sixteenth century, walls of the eighteenth century, and even older pieces.
The Castle of San Luis de Estepona is a coastal fortress built in the last quarter of the 16th century, as part of the reorganization of the defense of the western coast of Málaga after the Moorish rebellion of 1568. Its original purpose was to reinforce the southern front of the walls of Islamic origin, dominating the natural anchorage of the beach of La Rada. Its most outstanding elements were three artillery bastions and a large porticoed parade ground with several barracks.
In the middle of the 18th century, part of the Castle of San Luis underwent an important transformation and was restructured as a cannon battery. After the damage caused by the earthquake of Lisbon in 1755 and the blowing up caused by the French in 1812, much of the castle was abandoned and fell into ruin, surviving only the cannon battery, which was incorporated as a courtyard in a house built in the late nineteenth century.