Castle of Crato

Parish of Crato e Mártires

Background

Little is known about the early human occupation of the castle site,
some authors identifying traces of a Roman fortification in the foundations of the medieval castle.

The medieval castle

At the time of the Christian À época da Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the Crato region came under the control of Christian since 1160. Its repopulation, however, was only recorded from 1232, after the donation, by Sancho II of Portugal (1223-1248), of the domains of Amieira, Gavião and Ucrate (or Ocrato) to Order of the Hospitallers, with the obligation to promote and strengthen them. Thus, being a priority D.Mem Gonçalves, the construction of Crato Castle began. Aiming to attract settlers, the The town received a Charter, issued by the Order on December 18, 1270 of the Era of Caesar (1232 of the Christian Era).

Later, between 1336 and 1341, the headquarters of the Order of Leça were transferred to bailiff for the town of Crato, with the establishment of the Priory of Crato, which became the head of the Order, after the battle of Salado (1340).

Construction work on the castle continued throughout the 14th century, as evidenced by some letters from King Pedro I (1357-1367), dated 1358 and 1359, which refer to the opening of "tails & beards, in each of the Villas of Crato and Amieira". In 1430, the 5th Prior of the Crato, D.Frei Nuno Gonçalves de Góis, promotes the reconstruction of the castle and the construction of the fence of the village.

In the context of the minority of Afonso V of Portugal (1438-1481), with D.Duarte leaving as regent Queen Leonor of Aragon, the country plunges into a political crisis where they align themselves in a on the one hand, the nobility, which supports it, and on the other, the bourgeoisie, which distrusts it. The popular unrest leads to the convening of the Cortes of 1439, which in December, in Lisbon, elected the Infante D.Pedro as Regent of the kingdom. As the crisis deepened, in November 1440, the Queen retreats to Almeirim Castle and from there to Crato Castle, close to the border, under the protection of the Prior of the Order, where he awaits a promised intervention by the forces of Castile your favor, which ended up not materializing. Frightened, D.Leonor took refuge in the kingdom neighbor (December 29), where he died a few years later. The Castle of Crato, surrounded by the troops of Regent D.Pedro, it was destroyed at that time, and was rebuilt again later.

Under the reign of Manuel I of Portugal (1495-1521), the town received the New Charter (1512). A few years later, in November 1518, the wedding of the sovereign with D.Leonor of Castile. A new construction phase took place in the castle when celebration of the marriage of D.João III (1521-1557) with D.Catarina de Austria, in 1525, when its gate was rebuilt. These events illustrate the importance and conservation status of the castle in the period.

Later, at the beginning of the 17th century, between 1615 and 1621, Pedro Nunes Tinoco designed the settlement and its fortifications, leaving us the oldest known drawing of them.

From the Restoration War to the 19th century

In the context of the Portuguese Restoration War, Crato's defenses were modernized, adapted to the then modern artillery shots. To this end, from 1642 onwards, works were promoted improvement, which involved the medieval castle in a bastioned fortification, with a plan irregular polygonal star. However, with the works still in progress, the village was surrounded and conquered by Spanish troops under the command of D.João de Austria (October 29, 1662), which promoted the destruction of their defenses. In the resulting fire, the following were consumed: documents from the Registry Office and Archives of the Priory of the Order.

The following centuries accentuated the state of ruin of the complex, both of the medieval structures as modern ones, disappearing the Governor's House, the drawbridge, bastions and others, having survived to our days a guardhouse, the cistern, two ruined towers and some gunboats.

From the 20th century to the present day

From March 1, 1939, the remains of the fortification were acquired by the ambassador Dr. Rui Teixeira Guerra. From the second half of the 1940s, the Directorate-General of National Buildings and Monuments begins consolidation and restoration work, with the reconstruction of wall sections (1946), conservation (1956 and 1958), damage repairs caused by rains (1963), conservation and reconstruction (1977, 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1988-1989). In the meantime, the complex was classified as a Property of Public Interest by Decree published on February 26, 1982.

In 1989, the architect Antônio Maria da Calça and Pina Teixeira Guerra, son of the ambassador, as representative of the owner, transferred the property to the City Hall of Crato, during the socialist mandate presided over by José Bastos Leitão. This, in turn, granted it, on 19 September of that same year, under a 99-year contract, to ADR - Development Agency Regional, Ltda., whose manager is the same Architect. This professional presented, on 7th November 1991, a conservation and revitalization project for the castle, authored by him, whose execution began the following year. New work was carried out from 1997 onwards, responsibility of the Crato Castle Foundation, which, in addition to conserving the existing structure, has a proposal to erect a new building, including a museum (gypsum library and exhibition rooms), administrative headquarters of the Foundation, conference rooms, audiovisual/multimedia center, accommodation center with capacity for 15 to 20 people, restaurant and leisure area.

Architecture

The medieval castle, at an elevation of 272 meters above sea level, had a plan in the shape of a trapezoidal, with its walls reinforced by five towers at the corners, with the tower North was the one of homage.

The village fence, of which some sections remain, was supported by six towers: the Bell Tower, the Silk, that of São Pedro, that of Porta Nova, that of Beringal and that of Santarém.

In the mid-17th century, the castle was transformed into a bastioned fort, with a floor plan irregular polygonal in the shape of a four-pointed star, with a Redan on the side South-Southwest. Among the various structures that survived, the platforms for the artillery, the fort gate and the cistern in the center of the complex.

The North Bastion has recently been restored with its twelve Casemates and a guardhouse.