Palmela Castle

Type: castle Located within: a church, pousada Time spent: 40-60 min Path for disabled: available WC: available Parking: available Bike parking: not available Price: free

A National Monument is situated between the estuaries of the River Tagus and Sado River, near the mouth of the latter. It is part of the Costa Azul, in Arrábida Natural Park. Some scholars point to the date of 310 BC for the founding of a settlement on the current location, fortified at the time of Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula in 106, by a Praetor of Lusitania, named Áulio Cornelius. Modern archaeological research proves, however, that the subsequent occupation of this site was uninterrupted, initially by the Visigoths and later the Muslims, the latter responsible for the primitive fortification between the eighth century and the ninth, greatly expanded between the tenth century and the 12th.