Castle and fortress of Portalegre

Admission: Cost-free;
Opening hours: 9:00-13:00 h and 14:00-18:00 h;
Closed: Mondays

Although the urban fence was already referenced in 1274, as well as the Alegrete Gate, it was in 1299, during the conflict between Denis of Portugal and his brother Afonso Sanches, Lord of Albuquerque, that a fortification including a second walled fence was built, which in turn included 8 gates and 12 towers, while the keep and the alcazaba were renovated. In the early 14th century, Denis of Portugal instructed the reconstruction and expansion of this defensive system.

The castle still preserves part of its walls and 3 towers. The Northern Tower and the Western Tower are connected by a wall through a round path and battlements. The keep, as a result of renovations during the last decades, is now separated from the central section of fortification by the castle road, which passed through the walled section that once united them. In accordance with the Gothic principles of military architecture, it was incorporated into the castle's walled structure and provided enhanced protection to the access of the courtyard. Its plan is an irregular quadrangle and its access is possible through a round arched gate that is reached by a stone staircase. The irregularly shaped courtyard included a stone staircase leading to the access to the Northern Tower, the largest and iconographic symbol of the village. The medieval urban fence included 12 towers and was crossed by 8 gates; only 3 of them still stand:

• The Alegrete Gate , shaped as a tunnel, it features a perfect round arch that is framed in a solid structure where 4 windows were recently opened;
• The Crato Gate or the Arch of the Bishop (13th - 14th centuries), that was modified during the construction of the Episcopal Palace (16th century) and later in the 18th century;
• The Devesa Gate (13th - 14th centuries), once flanked by two towers and that is represented on the village's coat of arms. It separated the medieval settlement from the adjacent farmland, what explained its name. Nowadays, it features a perfect round arch in a solid tower with 4 windows.

D. Afonso Sanches, the Lord of Portalegre

D. Alfonso III father of a large offspring of 13 children, legitimate and illegitimate donates in 1271 to his son D. Afonso Sanches, then 8 years old, Portalegre, Arronches, Castelo de Vide, Marvão and maybe Alegrete. The infant came to have the title of Lord of Portalegre.
The confrontation between the brothers began as soon as D. Dinis ascended the throne in 1279 and would end in the walls of Portalegre in 1299.
It all started at 1280/1281 when D. Afonso Sanches carries out works in the tower of Castelo de Vide without the king's consent. This was followed by the siege of the royal host to that castle. The castle capitulated, but it is said that by the use of diplomacy weapons.
In 1287, different positions on conflicts in Castile provoked a new advance of the royal hosts, now on Arronches. The outcome was identical, the infant losing this stronghold.
In 1299 a deep disagreement between them led to D. Dinis intended to end the conflict with his brother, deciding to march with a mighty army over the strongest square of D. Afonso: Portalegre.
Over the course of 6 months, the neurobalistic artillery attack will have caused severe damage to the defensive system. The capitulation was inevitable.
In 1300 Afonso Sanches had to abdicate Marvão and Portalegre, maintaining Alegrete and Castelo de Vide. The Lord of Portalegre would die stripped of almost all his vast domains, in an uncertain place.
D. Dinis, following the siege of 1299, was forced to carry out a profound remodelling in Portalegre Castle.

Modern fortress

The imminent Restoration War imposed the adaptation of the old castle to the bastioned fortress from 1661, during the regency of Queen Luisa María Francisca de Guzmán y Sandoval, the spouse of John IV of Portugal.
The 17th century reformation included the forts of Saint Christopher, Saint Peter and Boa Vista (Saint Anne), as well as the ramparts, which are located next to the Episcopal Palace and the Devesa Gate.
In 1704, the square was taken over by Spanish-French troops during the War of the Spanish Succession.
In 1758, the priest Gregório Pegado Sequeira described the destruction of the walls and the 3 forts that were built after the enemy invasion. It was again occupied during the Peninsular Wars, this time by the General Loison's French troops, in 1808. In 1880, some operations in the urban walled fence resulted in the current layout of the village, including the incorporation of the remnants of the walls and the fortress into the urban planning.