Almourol Castle
Rocky island on the river Tagus, near the city of Tankusha, department of Santaren.
Description:
Almourol Castle, located on a rocky island in the middle of the Tagus River, was built by the Templars in 1160-71. This small rocky island has long been of great strategic importance – it controlled the waterway. Archaeological excavations have shown that the first fortifications appeared here around the I century AD. On June 16, 1910, the castle was listed as a national monument in Portugal.
The Crusader serf architecture was clearly defensive. Among the buildings of the Templar Order, the most capital is the famous rotunda in the monastery of the main castle of the Order of the Templars, in Portugal, Tomar. During the wars, the Reconquest Templars built Almourol Castle, which reliably protected the Tagus River valley. The founder of the castle was Don Gualdine Pais, who headed the Templar Order in Portugal.
The Tagus River, on which the castle stands, flows in the department of Santaren. In this place, the river bed is still not wide, on the protruding shallows you can see many islets. One of them was chosen for the construction of Almourol Castle - a sample of Portuguese fortress architecture. Before you stands a clear silhouette in the bright sky, painted with jagged walls of the castle and its round towers. The natural pedestal of the castle was the base of granite rocks. And around - quiet and beautiful nature: the river slowly carries its waters, banks, densely overgrown with lush forest, mysterious dark blue backwaters, fast rolls and rocky shoals.