Castle of Guimarães

The Castle of Guimarães (Portuguese: Castelo de Guimarães) is the principal medieval castle in the municipality Guimarães, in the northern region of Portugal. It was built under the orders of Mumadona Dias in the 10th century to defend the monastery from attacks by Moors and Norsemen.

The castle is a military fortification grounded primarily in the late Romanesque period, and elaborated during the early Gothic epoch of Portuguese architecture. Its area is delineated by walls forming a pentagram, similar to a shield, that includes eight rectangular towers, military square and central keep. Originating in the foundations of a Roman structure, from the writings of Alfredo Guimarães, it was later elaborated on the French model, in its current the form of a shield, with reduced central yard and difficult accesses. It includes several Gothic characteristics, owing to its remodelling at the end of the 13th century, when the keep and residences were constructed (possibly over pre-existing structures).

Text adapted from “Castle of Guimarães” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castle of Guimarães ranks #644 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #10 of the 200 mapped in Portugal. Founded c. 950, it is older than 93% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 129 atlas entries founded in the 10th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 6,836 times in the last 60 days, more than 88% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Guimarães, 1 km away. See how Portugal compares in the castle statistics.

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