Portugal Castles

The stone chronicles of Portugal's history – with these words you can define the ancient fortresses of this small country. They were built for defence against fierce neighbours constantly pretending to rule over Portuguese lands. For many centuries at row the country's independence had been threatened by Arabs and Moors, and then by Spaniards. That is why even small towns and settlements had their own fortifications. Many medieval buildings of this type fell into ruin over time but despite everything Portugal has still a lot of things to offer to contemporary tourists who are interested both in old architecture and Portugal's history. Today in Portugal there are more than 150 castles. Some of them were transformed by authorities into charming hotels – «pousadas». Great monuments of medieval culture and architecture such as the majestic Pena Palace or heroic Guimarães Castle were comprehensively renovated and changed into Portugal's world-famous tourist attractions. Among severe and inaccessible Portuguese citadels you can see extremely elegant castles, one of them – the Palace in Queluz due to its luxury is known as «Versailles's younger brother».