Arouce Castle

Parish of Arouce

Background

It is not known when a fortification was started to protect the village of Arouce, whose first documentary reference dates back to 943, in a contract between Zuleima Abaiud, a Mozarab, and the abbot Mestúlio of Lorvão Abbey, where the toponym Arauz is mentioned.

According to an old legend, at the time of the Muslim occupation the castle was built by the emir (Arab chief) Arunce, to protect his daughter Peralta and his treasures after he was defeated and expelled from Conimbriga.

The territory of Arouce, whose Castle was already mentioned in the Charter of Miranda do Corvo (1136), was contemplated by Afonso I of Portugal with a Charter in 1151.

The medieval castle

It is believed that the construction (or rebuilding) of Arouce Castle dates back to the second half of the 11th century, when the town was peacefully occupied by Count Sesnando Davides, governor of the Coimbra district, whose mandate was granted to him by Ferdinand the Great, the sovereign who had conquered Coimbra from the Moors in 1064, bringing the Christian À época da Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula to the region of the Serra da Estrela and Lousã mountains.

Conquered by the Moors during the offensive of 1124, it was reoccupied and repaired by D.Teresa de Leão. With the independence of Portugal, it became part of the Mondego border line until 1147, when Santarém and Lisbon were conquered by the forces of Afonso I of Portugal (1112-1185), who extended it to the Tagus. During this period, his wife, Queen Mafalda of Savoy, came here to spend the summer with her court. In the Charter that this sovereign granted to Miranda do Corvo (1136), he alludes to the Castle of Arouce, which would receive its own charter in 1151. Later, in 1160, a new document alludes to Lousã, distinct from Arouce, which shows that the old Roman town had been occupied again with the pacification of the region, prospering to such an extent that it received a charter in 1207, during the reign of Afonso II of Portugal (1211-1223).

At some point in the 14th century, the castle's keep was built. Under the reign of Manuel I (1495-1521), Lousã received a new charter (1513), from which time the medieval castle became known as Lousã Castle.

Lousã and its domains were the lordship of the dukes of Aveiro until 1759, when they passed to the Portuguese Crown. From then on, the action of the elements, the centuries and vandals in search of the legendary treasures of Arouce, caused significant damage to the monument, even threatening to collapse the Keep.

From the 20th century to the present day

It is classified as a National Monument by Decree published on June 23, 1910.

The intervention of the government began in 1925, and then in 1939, when conservation and repair work was carried out by the General Directorate of National Buildings and Monuments. A more extensive campaign took place between 1942 and 1945, and other specific ones in the years 1950, 1956, 1964, 1971 and 1985. These works brought us the monument in a good state of conservation, preserved in a forested landscape, which recalls the beginnings of the nationality.

Architecture

Small in size, it has an irregular hexagonal plan, in the Romanesque and Gothic styles.

The walls, in schist masonry, are reinforced by three Turrets (one to the southwest and two, smaller ones to the west). Two more, semi-cylindrical, flank the entrance gate, to the southeast. Crossing this, a parade ground of about 130 m² opens up. The top of the walls is crossed by a battlement, defended by chamfered battlements.

Adjoining the wall, on the north side, stands the Keep, with a quadrangular plan, and battlements. It has a pointed arch door, at the level of the battlement, with loopholes on the opposite side, and two more doors on the upper floor, on each of the facades. It is topped by chamfered battlements.

The legend of Arouce Castle

According to an ancient legend, which caused much damage to the monument, at the time of the Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, the castle was built by Arunce, an emir or Islamic chieftain who was defeated and expelled from Conímbriga, to protect his daughter Peralta and her treasures, while he traveled to North Africa in search of reinforcements against the Christian forces that were increasingly tightening their siege on Muslim lands.