Freemaps

Castro Marim Castle is built on top of a hill with the village that gives it its name around it, on the bank of the Guadiana River.

It is thought that the first fortress of Castro Marim must have consisted of a family fort or settlement from the Neolithic period. Due to the strategic location of the place, this village was inhabited by several peoples, among them, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Vandals and Moors, the latter defeated, when the village was conquered by D. Paio Peres Correia in 1242.

In 1277, D. Afonso III granted him a Charter with great privileges to more easily attract population to that area. The village initially grew within the walls of the old castle.

In the reign of D. Dinis, compensating for the loss of Ayamonte that passed to Castile's domain, the castle was reinforced with the construction of the Muralha de Fora, for shelter and defense of the population, granting it a new Charter in 1282.

Castro Marim, due to its geo-raian location, managed to attract, with the help of King D. Dinis and the papal bull instituted by Pope John XXII, the Order of Santiago, which would have inherited the goods of the Templar Order, extinct in 1321, installing its headquarters in Castro Marim Castle from 1319 to 1356, the year in which it was transferred, by order of D. Pedro I, to Tomar, due to the cessation of the fights against the Moors and the progressive loss of prestige in the area. From then on, the importance of this Castle diminished and the town began to depopulate, despite the privileges granted by the monarchs.

With the entrance of the 15th century, the Portuguese Crown found in the Algarve the best geographical and strategic position, due to its proximity to North Africa, in order to control possible attacks by privateers coming from the south or neighboring Spain.

Castro Marim thus became, due to its geographical location, one of the main battlegrounds when our troops were deployed overseas, losing its heyday in relation to other battlegrounds in the Algarve during the 16th century.

During the reign of D. Manuel I, with the new Charter attributed to this town in 1504, the restoration and defense work of the Castle began in 1509.

Within the walled enclosure were the ruins of the Church of Santiago, the village's primitive matrix, built in the 14th century, the Church of Santa Maria and the former Igreja da Misericórdia, next to the Porta de Armas, which served the population until the 16th century, time when the village began to grow out of the walled enclosure.

During the 15th century, during the Restoration Wars in 1640, King João IV ordered the restoration of the Castle and new fortification works, building the Fort of S. Sebastião and Revelim / Fort of S. António.

Photo credits: Castro Marim Municipality.