Peniche Fortress

The Peniche Fortress is located in the municipality of Peniche in Oeste region of Portugal. Built on the site of the former Castle of Atouguia da Baleia, of which only a few vestiges remain, initial construction took place in 1557 and 1558 but there have been numerous subsequent modifications. Its defensive walls surround an area of two hectares, divided into upper and lower parts. The fortress has served a number of functions including that of a political prison during the authoritarian Estado Novo regime. It now contains a museum devoted to the resistance to the Estado Novo.

Text adapted from “Peniche Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Peniche Fortress ranks #2,411 of 3,691 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #27 of the 82 mapped in Portugal. Founded 1558, it is older than 42% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 307 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. See how Portugal compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗