Located on a steep islet in the middle course of the Tagus River, Almourol Castle is one of the most emblematic medieval monuments in our country and is also one of the most representative testimonies of the Portuguese Templars.
Speculating on its origin prior to the arrival of the Romans in the Iberian Peninsula, this site occupied a strategic position in the defence of the Tagus line, so that when the people of Porto conquered this territory from the Moors in 1129, a fortress called “Almorolan” already existed here.
This territory was then entrusted to the Templars by King Afonso Henriques, who rebuilt the castle, adapting it to the architectural model implemented by the Order of the Temple in 1171 under the supervision of Gualdim Pais, as witnessed by the inscription that still stands today on the castle’s main door.
Quadrangular in plan, it has a walled circuit dotted with nine circular towers, with the keep at the centre, the fortification’s nerve centre.
After the extinction of the Knights Templar and the subsequent loss of its military usefulness, Almourol Castle would be condemned to a lasting oblivion, from which it would be rescued during the 19th century by Romanticism.
Maintained at a high level of conservation, mainly due to its geographical position, which did not allow its materials to be used for other constructions, it would become an icon in the process of valuing the medieval legacy that overwhelmed the Portuguese intelligentsia in the long transition between the 19th and 20th centuries.
The castle, the object of a restoration process during which some of its original structures were restored, was classified as a National Monument in 1910, and adapted to become the Official Residence of the Portuguese Republic by the Estado Novo.
Benefiting from a unique scenography, as well as being particularly faithful to its primitive structure, Almourol Castle is one of the most virtuous steps in Portuguese monumental heritage.