Freemaps

Aljezur Castle was built in the 10th century by the Arabs and was an integral part of the defensive system of Silves, during the 12th and 13th centuries, having been the last Islamic castle to be conquered by Christians in the Algarve, in 1249, during the reign of D .Alfonso III.

It has an irregular polygonal shape and still retains 2 distinct towers, which stand out from what remains of the walls that make up the castle's walled enclosure.

The Christian occupation did not cause its total or partial destruction, it was, however, the loss of function that determined its ruin (late 15th century or early 16th century). The first archaeological excavations carried out on the castle hill revealed a sequence of archaeological levels containing testimonies from the Bronze Age to the 16th century.

The place where the castle is located seems to have been occupied, successively and uninterruptedly, by several peoples: the Lusitanians who made it into a fort; the Romans who had a lookout post there; the Visigoths, who also used him as a lookout; and the Arabs who left more traces in it, being attributed to them the construction of the castle and the foundation of the town, as well as the reformulation of its defenses.

Photo credits: Aljezur Municipality