The Castle of São Jorge (Portuguese: Castelo de São Jorge) occupies a commanding position overlooking the city of Lisbon and the broad Rio Tejo beyond. The strongly-fortified citadel dates from medieval times, is located atop the highest hill in the historic center of the city. The castle is one of the main historical and touristic sites of Lisbon.
The castle's footprint is roughly square in shape, and it was originally encircled by a wall, to form a citadel.
The medieval castle is located toward the northwest corner of the citadel, at its highest point. Hypothetically, during a siege, if attackers managed to enter the citadel, the castle was the last stronghold, the last place available to take refuge. It is rectangular in shape, and it has a total of ten towers. A wall with a tower and a connecting door (first photo - you can see the outer wall through the arch doorway which is under the tower) divides the castle courtyard into halves. A series of stairways allow one to reach the walkway atop the wall and the towers (second photo - it was through a window in that tower that I took one of the photos shown in the previous blog) from which there are magnificent views of Lisbon.
Apart from its main walls, the castle is protected, on its southern and eastern sides, by a barbican (barbacã), a low wall that prevented siege engines from approaching the main castle walls. The northern and western sides of the castle were naturally protected by the steep hillside sloping downward from the castle's foundations. The castle is also partially encircled by a moat, now dry. The main entrance is fronted by a stone bridge across the moat. On the west side, there is a long curtain wall extending downhill, ending at a tower (the Torre de Couraça) (see photo 3 in the previous post - you can't see the tower but on the right side of the photo you can see the wall and steps going down to the tower). This tower served to control the valley below, and it could also be used to escape, in case the castle was taken by enemies.
The last photo is of one of the guards, asleep on the job.
Just to let you know: I have been following with interest what you are doing. It all sounds wonderful. And the weather has been good for you, which helps. The castle looks terrific, and the thought of it being as old as that is quite remarkable to us North Americans.
ReplyDelete(Our weather has not been bad: the last week had had highs up to 15, and lows above zero. I biked to the Lodge this past week.)
Bob