Castle of Aljezur

The hilltop above Aljezur was occupied in the Bronze and Iron Ages, and by the beginning of the 10th century a small town had been founded there by Arabs, who reworked its defences and built dependencies within and outside the walls. The parade ground, dwelling structures and two silos inside the castle date to the 12th and 13th centuries.

The castle holds an 88-metre hilltop — the smaller of two above the old town — circuited by the winding Aljezur ravine. During the Moorish period the river below was navigable, and remained so until the 18th century, making the fortress guardian of the port as well as a defensive structure over the town.

The irregular polygonal circuit stands three to five metres high and about 1.5 metres thick, reinforced by two massive, incomplete towers: a circular north tower nearly five metres across and nine metres tall outside, and a rectangular southern one. Elements of barbicans survive on the western and north-western walls, and a single opening in the north-east gives onto the schist cliffs.