The castle of Ampudia is a medieval fortress from the 15th century located in the homonymous town in the province of Palencia.

It was built between 1461 and 1488 by Don García López de Ayala, Lord of Ayala and Salvatierra and son of Don Pedro García de Herrera, the first holder of the Mayorazgo de Ampudia.

Don García's successor, Don Pedro Ayala y Rojas, Count of Salvatierra, clashed with his own mother, Doña María Sarmiento, for possession of the castle, and he was the winner. In 1521 the count embraced the common cause, giving rise to the act of arms known as the Battle of Ampudia between the supporters of Emperor Carlos I of Spain and the troops led by Bishop Antonio de Acuña.

In 1522, after the commune's defeat, the emperor confiscated the castle, but soon after he returned it to the family, albeit in exchange for 20,000 ducats.

In 1528 the castle housed the children of the French monarch Francisco I, after the Battle of Pavia, as hostages.

In 1597 Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma and favorite of King Felipe III, took over the ownership of the manor, whom he attracted to the town on different occasions, turning the castle into the occasional seat of the Spanish Court.

From then on the castle will enter a long period of neglect.

In 1960 the biscuit businessman Eugenio Fontaneda Pérez, a native of Aguilar de Campoo, acquired it from the penultimate owner of it, the Countess de la Granja, and set it up as a museum for his collection of art objects and antiques from the Duero basin .