After we finished up at Pena Palace, Marta walked with us a short way down the hill to the entrance to the Moorish Castle. We bid a fond farewell to Marta as she went off to catch the bus. We walked through the woods to the castle.
We came to a couple of outbuildings and I climbed up one that was a bit treacherous going, especially because of the light rain that was falling on and off again.
At the top of the defensive position!
My view from the top.
Built by the Moors in the 8th and 9th centuries as their "palace," it was really a fort to protect this important area. After Lisbon fell to the Reconquista, the Castelo dos Mouros was won by the Christians in 1147. It too is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are a lot of UNESCO sites in Portugal, 17 to be exact, and since I'm writing this post our last night in Portugal, I can play spoiler alert and tell you we visited seven of them.
After the Moors surrendered, a castle was built, but it was short-lived. The result is that not much of the castle is left, but the original defensive wall are, and they are spectacular. You've already seen some pictures from below, but the castle walls are more sprawling than we can see from our hotel.
The castle is built on the top of a jagged, rocky hilltop that goes up and down. It's quite the climb up the narrow stone staircases to reach the different watchtowers. We were winded by the time we made it to the very top, but the payoff is definitely worth it.
Selfie on top of the wall, with
Pena Palace still above us.
Part of the wall.
The town of Sintra below, with the
distinctive chimneys of the National Palace.
The fire smoke we presumed is from
a controlled burn.
Our hotel from high above.
This gives some idea of how
steep the climb was.
Pena Palace in the background. My lovely
wife in the foreground, but you already
knew all of that!
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