Fort of São Julião da Barra

The Fort of São Julião da Barra is the largest and most complete military defence complex in the Vauban style remaining in Portugal. It is located in São Julião da Barra, on the point of São Gião, in the parish of Oeiras e São Julião da Barra, Paço de Arcos e Caxias, Oeiras Municipality, Lisbon District. Considered in the past as the most important maritime fortification in the country, it had originally, together with the Fort of São Lourenço do Bugio, the role of controlling access to the port of Lisbon. It is currently the official residence of the Portuguese Minister of National Defence.

Text adapted from “Fort of São Julião da Barra” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort of São Julião da Barra ranks #4,620 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #63 of the 205 mapped in Portugal. Founded 1579, 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 1,714 times in the last 60 days, more than 63% of the atlas. 22 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sintra, 15 km away. See how Portugal compares in the castle statistics.

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