Castle of Loulé ( pt, Castelo de Loulé) is a castle in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Loulé Loulé () is a city and municipality in the region of Algarve, district of Faro, Portugal. In 2011, the population of the entire municipality was 70,622 inhabitants, in an area of approximately . The municipality has two principal cities: Loulé ...

, in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

. Classified a National Monument, since 20 June 1924, three towers remain within the cordon of walls, the remnants of the alcaldaria located within the structure.

History

Loule Castle - The Algarve, Portugal (1398607127)

The Romans first occupied the site, then the remnants of a local

castro Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''. ...

around the 2nd century, and transformed it into a defensible military fortification and politico-administrative center. In 715, the site was occupied by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

. The site was conquered in the 11th century by Ferdinand, King of León, but held for little time. It was definitively occupied in 1249 by D. Paio Peres Correia. Several years later (1268)

Afonso III Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse''), or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin), the Boulonnais ( Port. ''o Bolonhês''), King of Portugal ( ...

had the area populated after reconstructing and expanding the walls. During this period two of the main towers, including the keep tower, were constructed, but the six gates suggest the existence of other towers (only ruins remain).Almeida (1948) A

foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The word ''foral'' ({{IPA-pt, fuˈɾaɫ, eu, plural: ''forais'') is a noun derived from the Portuguese word ''foro'', ultimately from Latin ''forum'', equivalent to Spanish ''fuero'', Galician '' foro'', ...

(''charter'') was issued in 1266 from Lisbon by

Afonso III of Portugal Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse''), or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' ( Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin), the Boulonnais ( Port. ''o Bolonhês''), King of Portugal ...

. Between 9–12 April 1359, King

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

overnighted at the alcadaria. In 1422 or 1462, Henrique de Meneses, 1st Count of Loulé re-built the towers and walls of the castle. A new foral was issued by Manuel of Portugal in 1501. King

Sebastian of Portugal Sebastian ( pt, Sebastião I ; 20 January 1554 – 4 August 1578) was King of Portugal from 11 June 1557 to 4 August 1578 and the penultimate Portuguese monarch of the House of Aviz. He was the son of João Manuel, Prince of Portugal, and hi ...

overnighted on 29 January 1573. The castle was damaged during an earthquake in 1969. The site was taken-over by the Instituto Português do Património Arquitetónico, on 1 June 1992, under Decree 106F/92 (Diário da Republic, Série IA, 126). In 2001 a protocol was signed between the municipal council and the DGEMN in order to facilitate the protection and conservation of the patrimony in the municipality, that included the castle grounds. This document was supplemented on 18 January 2013 (Diário da República, Série II, 13, Anúncio de Procedimento 232/2013) relative to the remodeling of the ''Praça D. Afonso III'', ''Rua D. Paio Peres Correia'' and ''Largo das Bicas Velhas (Chafariz)''.

Architecture

The remains of the castle and walls are visible from the roads ''Rua da D. Paio Peres Correia'', ''Rua das Bicas Velhas'', ''Rua da Barbacã'' and ''Largo D. Afonso III'', as well as incorporated into the buildings. The majority of the walls are integrated into the buildings of the growing city, outside the perimeter of the original walls.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle of Loule Loule Castle Loule Loule