The ''Castelo de Sesimbra'' (Sesimbra Castle), also known as ''Castelo dos Mouros'' (Castle of the Moors), is a castle located in the town of

Sesimbra Sesimbra () is a municipality of Portugal, in the Setúbal District, lying at the foothills of the ''Serra da Arrábida'', a mountain range between Setúbal and Sesimbra. Due to its particular position at the Setúbal Bay, near the mouth of the Sa ...

, in the

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( pt, Distrito de Setúbal ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Év ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It was classified as a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

on 16 June 1910.

History

The medieval

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

stands in a dominant position on a

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

, over a

cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

which constitutes a natural harbour in the

Setúbal peninsula The Setúbal Peninsula (Portuguese: ) is a peninsula in the Lisbon Region of Portugal. The peninsula is named after one of its larger cities, Setúbal, and is bordered by three bodies of water, the Atlantic Ocean in the west and southwest, the Tag ...

between the

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

of the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...

river and the Sado river, a few miles from

Cape Espichel Cabo Espichel is a cape situated on the western coast of the Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish of Castelo (Sesimbra), Castelo, Concelho, municipality of Sesimbra, in the Portugal, Portuguese Setúbal (district), district of Setúbal. History F ...

. It was built on a site occupied in

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

times. In the 9th century it was a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

settlement during the period of Muslim occupation of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, when it was known as Alcáçova. In 1165 it was conquered by

D. Afonso Henriques Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French inf ...

, the first King of Portugal. In 1191 it was occupied by the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fo ...

, Moroccan

Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

, who almost entirely destroyed it in the process. The final reconquest took place in 1199, under King Sancho I, with the help of

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. Given its strategic importance, numerous enlargements to the castle were carried out immediately after the reconquest and throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. In 1323 a second reinforcement of the walls was made and the West Tower was built, this being needed as a lookout to identify

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

. In 1384 the castle served as a refuge for John of Avis and his troops during the war with Castile (1383-85). From the fifteenth century, the population gradually began to move down from the hills to settle by the bay and pursue fishing and boatbuilding activities. By 1516 there were already signs of abandonment. The ramparts were reinforced in 1693 and other improvements made and, in 1721, the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo, which was built by Afonso I, was restored. However, the castle was already in a bad condition when it was effectively ruined by the

earthquake of 1755 The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

. In 1875, part of the grounds was converted into a cemetery. The advanced state of ruin of the castle was not addressed until between 1933 and 1945, when conservation work was carried out by the ''Direção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais'' (DGEMN-General Directorate of Buildings and National Monuments). Further restoration was carried out in 1998. The Castle of Sesimbra is now under the management of the Municipality of Sesimbra. The walls can be easily explored on foot and there are also two permanent exhibitions on its history, a shop and a cafeteria. Castelo de Sesimbra, muralha e adarve (44799940261).jpg SesimbraCastle1.jpg Sesimbra fortress ramparts.jpg, Battlements Castelo de Sesimbra by Juntas 2.jpg Castelo de Sesimbra.jpg, Inside view Castelo de Sesimbra - Portugal (2631327325).jpg Castillo de Sesimbra, Portugal, 2012-08-18, DD 02.JPG, Exterior view from Northwest File:Sesimbra - Portugal (50956907502).jpg, Exterior view from Southeast Castelo de Sesimbra - vista exterior.JPG, The keep

References

{{Authority control Castles in Portugal Castle Sesimbra Buildings and structures in Setúbal District

History

See also

References