Castelo de São Filipe

The Fort of São Filipe de Setúbal, also referred to as the São Filipe Castle or the São Filipe Fortress, is in the city of Setúbal in the Setúbal District, of Portugal. The fort was built on the orders of Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal), who personally witnessed the laying of the cornerstone of the new fortification in 1582. It stands in a dominant position on the right bank of the mouth of the Sado River, overlooking the centre of Setúbal to its east and guarding access to the river. Named after the king during the Iberian Union, the fortress was designed by Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino and had the Italian military engineer Filipe Terzi, who worked for the Spanish Royal Court, as its chief engineer. It was completed in 1600 under the guidance of Leonardo Torreano due to the death of Terzi.

Text adapted from “Fort of São Filipe de Setúbal” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castelo de São Filipe ranks #4,172 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #52 of the 205 mapped in Portugal. Founded 1582, it is older than 36% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,522 times in the last 60 days, more than 60% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Lisbon, 29 km away. See how Portugal compares in the castle statistics.

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