Portalegre Castle

Portalegre Castle

Type: castle
Time spent: 25 min
Visits: free [at this moment]
Parking: not available
Languages: English, Portuguese
Current situation: the castle is under reconstruction, but one of the towers can be visited, and you can see the castle from it.

The Castle of Portalegre stands out over the older part of the town because of its imposing location over a higher area.

The earliest historical references date from the reign of Dom Afonso III of Portugal, the king who conceded the first charter to Portalegre in 1259, which gave it the status of vila (town) and made it the capital of a new autonomous municipality. Starting in 1290, King D. Dinis reinforced the castle and built the city walls, motivated by the increased importance of the town.

The castle was listed as a National monument in 1922.

It's somewhat forgotten and poorly maintained although it has. A nice atmosphere, the wooden structure takes away a lot of the magic from the castle itself, sadly.
It's not possible to climb the towers although they should provide a very good view overall, but since there are no safety measures its not allowed to climb them to see.
They could have built some railings for safety along the walls instead of the wooden structures that they currently have.
Good to pass by, but overall could be better.

If one is fond of architecture, then you must, because the contemporary wood intervention is magnificent, otherwise the castle ruins are not remarkable at superficial glance.

Closed when we were in town, not sure of opening hours so we stopped by on the off chance. Castle seems in ok condition although what is visible of it seems like it needs more care and attention.

Not comparable with any of the other Alto Alentejo region castles. Not well preserved and unfortunately altered with a wooden structure attached. Even the exhibits inside are not interesting at all. Good thing is it's free