About Santa Florentina Castle
At Canet del Mar on Spain’s northeastern Balearic coast, 47 kilometres north of Barcelona sits the 11th century Santa Florentina Castle. Built on the site of a Roman villa complex (the remains of which were incorporated into the castle) by Guadimir de Canet, the castle served as a private residence for 250 years and has since starred in Game of Thrones as House Tarly of Horn Hill.
Santa Florentina Castle history
In the 14th century, a descendent of Canet named Ferrer de Canet, a noble knight, an advisor to the excellently-named King Alfonso V the Magnanimous and a Papal ambassador no less, fortified the house with two towers and medieval gates that offered protection against the pirates of the Mediterranean.
Over the centuries the house passed through many owners until the 16th when the owner’s daughter married a Barcelona-based lawyer named Felipe Dimas de Montaner, a direct descendent of the Montaner family that still lives there to this day.
In 1949 the house was designated a cultural heritage monument and the November 1998 issue of the Architectural Digest Journal listed Santa Florentina Castle as one of the world’s most beautiful houses.
Santa Florentina Castle today
Today, Santa Florentina Castle hosts an annual classical music festival and because it remains a private residence, the very few guided tours available are by appointment only and last around an hour. However during the summer the castle is open more often between Tuesday and Saturday and the standard price of admission is 12€.
Getting to Santa Florentina Castle
Situated just off the C-32, Santa Florentina Castle is only a 50 minute drive from Barcelona along the coast. Otherwise you could get the R1 Blanes train to Canet de Mar and then the 627 Piscines – Institut Sunsi Móra bus to Pau Casals, a 7 minute walk from the castle.
