Castle of Alcobaça

Parish de Alcobaça

Background

There is controversy among authors about the primitive defensive structure of the site, attributed sometimes to the Visigothic occupation and sometimes to the Muslim occupation, of which a barrow tower is evidence.

Located in the center of the Portuguese coast, the territory currently covered by the municipality of Alcobaça stands out for its geological and geographic heterogeneity and its own hunting resources, which is why it has differed in terms of settlement strategy (MARQUES, 1994, pp. 11-19), since the most ancient times of humankind, as attested by the numerous archaeological testimonies (from the Paleolithic to the High Middle Ages) identified to date.

The medieval castle

Although local legends attribute the construction of the primitive castle to the Visigoths, other authors attribute its construction to the Muslims, who would have built it in a dominant position over the town "(...) giving it the name of Alcácer-bem-el Abbaci, which was that of a gate in the city of Morocco." (LARCHER, 1933:17).

At the time of the Christian À época da Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the lands of the Alcobaça region were taken by the forces of Afonso I of Portugal (1112-1185) around 1148, when they would have conquered this castle. The lands were donated to the monks of the Cistercian Order in 1153 for them to populate and defend, the year in which the Monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça was founded, forming the "Coutos de Alcobaça", successively added to by royal donations and others.

The region was attacked by the Moors in 1191 and 1195. Sancho I of Portugal (1185-1211) reconquered the town and its lands, returning them to the Cistercian monks. The 1191 donation letter says:

"In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, (...). I, Sancho, by the grace of God, King of Portugal and the Algarve, and my wife, Queen D. Dulce, together with our sons and daughters, make this letter of donation and perpetual security to the house of Alcobaça and to you, D. Martinho, abbot of the same place, and to all the brothers who live there under rule, of that castle called Abenabeci, which for the honor of God we give and grant to you, so that you may possess it perpetually, free from all royal action and peacefully, with all its new and old terms, up to the limits that can be considered true by an investigation made by men worthy of the greatest credit and faith (...).

This letter of donation was made in February 1229 [1191 AD].

The castle, then abandoned and in ruins, was later rebuilt by the Order, becoming part of an advanced line of defence for Lisbon, which also included Leiria Castle, Pombal Castle and Óbidos Castle, for example.

With peace in these domains, the monks dedicated themselves to winemaking and oenology, becoming an international gastronomic reference in the following centuries.

Around 1369, the abbot of Alcobaça, D. Frei João de Ornelas, reinforced the defence of the castle by erecting a Barbican, rebuilt a fallen tower and the section of walls facing the Monastery. To cover the costs of these works, a fraud was launched against the residents.

In the 15th century, under the reign of John I of Portugal (1357-1433), the castle was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1422, and the necessary repairs were carried out in 1424 (tower and walls). A little later, the abbot D. Frei Gonçalo Ferreira had the Keep rebuilt (1450).

In the 17th century, in the context of the Philippine Dynasty, new repair work was carried out on the castle (1627). At this stage, the tower located to the east began to be used as a prison, a function it would perform until the earthquake of 1755, when it collapsed.

As the appointment of the castle's mayors is the prerogative of the abbots of Alcobaça, we know that Geraldo Pereira Coutinho, a prima and canon teacher at the University of Coimbra, was appointed as the castle's mayor on 10 November 1701.

From the 19th century to the present day

In the first half of the 19th century, during the reign of Maria II of Portugal (1826-1828; 1834-1853), with no longer a strategic or defensive function, the Monastery was closed (1834), and the castle passed into the possession of the Alcobaça Municipal Council, which ordered it to be demolished (1838), using it as a quarry for new constructions in Alcobaça. The castle was considered extinct in the Minutes of the Municipal Council (1854).

In the mid-20th century, abandoned and cluttered, its cistern was used to store drinking water to be distributed to the population (1940). A few years later, the partial reconstruction of the wall facing the Monastery was carried out, based on a description left by Friar Fortunato Boaventura (1952-1953), as well as cleaning work on the monument and its surrounding area, including the accesses, on the occasion of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom to Portugal, when she visited Alcobaça (1956). In the 1960s, new minor repairs were carried out (1965).

It is classified as a Property of Public Interest by Decree No. 95/78, published in the Official Gazette No. 210, of September 12, 1978.

Archaeological excavations carried out on its grounds in a four-year project that began in August 2002, with municipal resources, sought to elucidate questions relating to the time and authorship of the castle's foundation. The work was coordinated by archaeologists Jorge António and Manuela Pereira, led by a group of volunteers and some local authority workers.

Features

At 69 metres, the castle has an irregular organic plan, in the Romanesque and Gothic styles.

The walls of the first enclosure remain, in limestone masonry, reinforced by seven quadrangular cubes and another tower highlighted on the west side (keep tower), facing the Monastery. To the east, there is a Barbican tower, between the inner enclosure and the oval-shaped Barbican, reinforced, on the west side, by four turrets (two of which are semicircular).