Porta de S. Jorge, Rua do Chao da Feira
Tel. 21- 880 06 20
Bus: 37
Trolley: 28
The Castle of São Jorge, formerly Paço de Alcáçova, is located in the
parish of Santa Maria Maior (Castelo), in the city and municipality of
Lisbon, in Portugal.
The first walls of the castle, which was
rebuilt several times by different peoples and given different names,
date back to the 1st century BC. D. João I in the 14th century.
São Jorge Castle has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.
Over time, the castle, as well as the various military structures in
Lisbon, was being remodeled, to the point that in the first half of the
20th century it was already in an advanced state of ruin. In the 1940s
monumental reconstruction works were undertaken, raising most of the
walls and raising many of the towers. For this reason, contrary to what
one might think at first sight, the "medieval character" of this
military complex is due to this reconstruction campaign, and not to the
preservation of the castle's space from the Middle Ages to the present
day.
It rises in a dominant position on the highest hill in the
historic center, providing visitors with one of the most beautiful views
over the city and the Tagus river estuary.
For the first time,
the number of visitors to Castelo de São Jorge exceeded 1.2 million
visitors in 2014, an increase of 17.6% compared to 2013, mainly due to
the foreign public.
The visit to the Castle of São Jorge is paid
and costs around € 10 euros for most people. Children up to 12 years old
do not pay to enter and young people (from 13 to 25 years old) pay half
price. The entrance allows you to stay as many hours as you want inside
the Castle.
The primitive human presence in the area dates back to
the Iron Age, and archaeological research has brought to light
testimonies from at least the 6th century BC, successively by
Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians. Historical information, however,
begins only in the context of the conquest of Hispania by the Roman
legions, when it was called Olisipo. Served, from 139 BC. as a base for
the operations of the Consul Décimo Júnio Bruto Galaico, against the
groups of Lusitanians dispersed after the murder of their leader,
Viriato, when it is admitted that, for this reason, there would have
been some kind of defensive structure here. Later, in 60 BC, with the
then Propraetor Gaius Julius Caesar completing the definitive conquest
of Lusitania, he granted the village the title of Felicidade Júlia
(Felicitas Julia), allowing its inhabitants the privilege of Roman
citizenship.
Faced with the invasions of the Empire by
barbarians, to which the Peninsula was not immune, the city was
conquered by the Suevi under the command of Maldras, in the mid-5th
century, and, a few years later, by the Visigoths under the command of
Eurico, coming to become definitively Visigothic under the reign of
Leovigildo.
Later, in the 8th century, it would fall under Muslim
rule, changing its name to Al-Ushbuna or Lissabona. The descriptions of
its geographers refer to the existence of the fortification with its
walls, which defended the "quasabah" (alcáçova), the center of political
and military power in the city. The so-called "Fence Moura" was built in
the late Roman period, having been rebuilt and expanded during the
Islamic period.
In the context of the Christian reconquest of the
Peninsula, its possession fluctuated with the Christian advances, which
targeted it as a target on the banks of the Tagus River. Thus, it was
initially conquered by Afonso II of Asturias, in a counter-offensive in
796. At the time, the city was sacked and the Christian forces, too far
from their base in the region of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, withdrew in then.
An identical success was repeated in the reign of Ordonho III of León,
under the command of this sovereign, with the city suffering severe
damage.
A member of the domains of the taifa of Badajoz, at the
dawn of the 12th century, in the face of the threat posed by the forces
of Iúsuf ibn Taxufin, who, coming from North Africa, had passed to the
Peninsula aiming at the conquest and reunification of the Almoravids
domains, the ruler of Badajoz , Mutavaquil, handed it over, along with
Santarém and Sintra, in the spring of 1093, to King Alfonso VI of León
and Castile, aiming at a defensive alliance that did not hold. Involved
with the defense of his own territories, the Christian sovereign was not
able to assist the Moorish ruler, whose territories fell, in the
following year, before the invaders. In this way, Lisbon, Santarém and
Sintra would remain Muslim domains, now under the Almoravids.
The
fortification, in this period, consisted of the Alcáçova with an
approximately quadrangular plan of about 60 meters on a side, in a
dominant position at the top of the hill, defended by walls
approximately 200 meters wide. From this nucleus, whose perimeter
roughly corresponds to the limits of the current parish of Castelo, to
the east and west, the walls surrounding the village, reinforced by
towers and where the doors were torn, descended to the river.
In the context of the Christian Reconquest of the
Iberian Peninsula, after the conquest of Santarém, the forces of D.
Afonso Henriques (1112-1185), with the help of Norman, Flemish, German
and English crusaders who were heading to the Holy Land, invested
against this Muslim fortification, which capitulated after a hard siege
of three months (1147), as narrated in the manuscript "De expugnatione
Lyxbonensi", a letter written by an English crusader who took part in
the conquest. A legend that emerged later states that the knight Martim
Moniz, who stood out during the siege, upon realizing one of the castle
doors was ajar, sacrificed his own life by interposing his own body in
the gap, preventing its closure by the Moors and allowing access. and
the victory of the companions.
As a token of gratitude, the now
Christian castle was placed under the invocation of the martyr Saint
George, to whom many crusaders dedicated devotion. On the day of the
conquest, October 25th, today the "Army Day" is celebrated, an
institution that, in the country, has Saint George as its patron saint.
A few decades later, between 1179 and 1183, the castle successfully
resisted the Muslim forces that ravaged the region between Lisbon and
Santarém.
From the 13th century onwards, with Lisbon becoming the
capital of the kingdom (1255), the castle reached its apogee, when it
was, in addition to the Royal Palace, the so-called Paço da Alcáçova,
bishops' palace, court nobles' hostel and fortification. military. The
earthquakes that affected the city in 1290, 1344 and 1356 caused damage.
On a military level, it mobilized in the face of the Castilian siege of
February and March 1373, when the outskirts of the Capital were looted
and set on fire. In that year, work began on the wall of D. Fernando
(1367-1383), completed two years later and extending to the Baixa. In
the 3rd Fernandine War, the outskirts of the city were once again the
target of Castilian attacks, in March 1382
On January 26, 1383,
the castle was handed over to the Count of Barcelos, João Afonso Telo,
by its mayor, Martim Afonso Valente.
During the 1383-1385 crisis,
Lisbon would be severely besieged by the forces of D. João I of Castile
in 1384.
In the role of Royal Palace, it hosted the reception of
Vasco da Gama, after the discovery of the sea route to India, at the end
of the 15th century, and the premiere, in the 16th century, of the
Cowboy Monologue, by Gil Vicente, the first play of Portuguese theatre,
commemorating the birth of D. João III (1521-1557).
Along with the city, the castle suffered again with
the earthquakes of 1531, 1551, 1597 and 1699. Its history as a Royal
Palace ended with its change, still in the 16th century, to the Paço da
Ribeira. From then on its dependencies were used as barracks. At the
time of the Philippine Dynasty, it was garrisoned again, having been
used as a prison.
In the context of the Restoration of
Independence, its mayor, Martim Afonso Valente, honoring the oath of
loyalty to whom he had rendered homage, only handed over the square to
the Restauradores after receiving instructions from Margarida de Savoy,
Duchess of Mantua, until then Vice-Queen of Portugal, who ordered him to
surrender (1640).
The change of the royal residence to the
riverside area, the installation of barracks and the 1755 earthquake
contributed to the decline and degradation of the monument. It was the
seat of Casa Pia from 1780 to 1807, when it was used as headquarters by
Jean-Andoche Junot. Thus, mischaracterized and, in part, banned from
Lisbon, it reached the 20th century.
Classified as a National
Monument by Decree of June 16, 1910, it underwent major restoration
interventions in the 1940s and late 1990s, which had the merit of
rehabilitating the monument, recovering its medieval design. It is
currently one of the most visited places by tourists in the city of
Lisbon. In 2000 and 2009, two projects for a lift connection between
Castelo and Baixa were considered by the City Council.
The
monument also offers gardens and viewpoints (with emphasis on the Plaza
de Armas with the statue of D. Afonso Henriques), the castelejo, the
citadel and the esplanade, a camera obscura (Torre de Ulisses, former
Torre do Tombo), space exhibition hall, meeting/reception room (Casa do
Governador) and thematic shop for its visitors.
Entrance to the
castle is free for residents of the municipality of Lisbon. For other
visitors it costs 10 euros.
The castle defends the ancient Islamic citadel, the Alcazar, opening in its walls with battlements twelve gates, seven of which face the parish of Santa Cruz do Castelo. To the outside, a section of wall gives access to a barbican tower. Eighteen towers support and reinforce the walls. Through the South Gate, through Rua de Santa Cruz do Castelo, you can access the Praça de Armas.