Sabugal Castle

This is one of Portugal’s best-kept Portuguese castles, rising at the top of a mount surrounded by river Côa. Prior to the foundation of Portugal, this castle was occupied in 1296 by King D. Dinis. The Portuguese borders were only set one year later by the Treaty of Alcanizes. Restored under the ruling period of D. Manuel, Sabugal Castle was given the arms that can be seen over the castle’s entry door. In 1811, during the 3rd French Invasion, the Portuguese and British troops settled here to prepare the attack against the French army that was about to retreat. The fortified facility has four towers in the vertexes, a citadel and an over 20m high keep upon the walls. A sharp-eyed visitor will notice the profusion of several openings that enabled defence shooting, first with bows and arrows and then with incipient cannons. You must walk along the whole wall perimeter and go up to the towers, especially the keep, in order to enjoy the surrounding view. You will have to climb a stone ladder and on the upper levels, a wooden ladder. There are several landings leading to four machicolation balconies (the holes in the floor enabled the tower defence). The last floor has an ornamented wooden ceiling and, finally, you will reach the terrace. From this spot, you will have a general overview of region’s topography. You will see part of Côa river, as well as a true labyrinth of schist houses around the castle area. Further south, you will contemplate the mountains of Natural Reserve of Malcata Mountain Range, also worth visiting.

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