Castle of Pombal

The Castle of Pombal (Portuguese: Castelo de Pombal) is a medieval castle in the civil parish of Pombal, municipality of the same name in the district of Leiria in the Centre region of Portugal.

Around 1128, the Castle of Pombal, which was originally a former Roman castro and Arab fortress, was donated to the Knights Templar by Afonso Henriques in order to defend Coimbra and which included a vast territory of land. The transfer of its control during that period, was seen as an important military position, owing to its successive generations of fortification and disputes between Christian and Muslim forces.

The construction of the Romanesque fortress began in the middle of the 12th century (in either 1155 or 1156), and continued practically until the century's end; the construction of various towers was made to serve, stabilize and reinforce the wall, and help to repopulate the town. It is likely that work started on the encirclement of the position and later to the construction of the keep (around 1171), and includes an alambor, a defensive feature to mitigate attacks close to the walls.

In 1171, the keep was constructed in the castle courtyard; during this period of the passive Reconquista, the keep served as the last defensive bastion, acting as the Lord lieutenants personal stronghold. At the conclusion of the project an inscription was carved over the door to the keep, something promoted by D. Gualdim Pais in the medieval period, while in 1353, the castle and village were donated to the Order of Christ. The plaque was later removed and deposited in the Convent of Christ in Tomar Municipality, on request of Prince Henry the Navigator (between 1420 and 1460).

Little changed during the early Middle Ages to the Romanesque fortification, and only re-thinking of its battlements were identified in the reign of Manuel I of Portugal, which included the definition of the barbican and reinforcement of the medieval walls.

A similar reconstruction of the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo began in 1560, under the alcalde Pedro de Sousa Ribeiro, an antecedent of the Count of Castelo-Melhor, who held the governorship since the reign of Afonso V until 1834.

The castle lost its military importance during the modern era, and was attacked by French forces during the Napoleonic Peninsular War.

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

Castle of Pombal ranks #4,324 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #56 of the 205 mapped in Portugal. Founded 1128, it is older than 85% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 563 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Leiria, 25 km away. See how Portugal compares in the castle statistics.

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