Belver Castle

Belver Castle, locally known as Castelo de Belver, lies in the town of the same name in the Alto Alentejo region in Portugal.

In the course of the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula, attacks of the Almohad Caliphate pushed the Christian forces back north. Sancho I of Portugal then donated this part of the north bank of the Tagus River to the Knights Hospitaller, in 1194, under the condition that they should construct a castle. They choose a strategic site, a hill next to the Tagus and at the mouth of the Zêzere River. Construction was fully finished in 1212.

Belver Castle was a strong castle, even so, that during the reign of Sancho II of Portugal (1223-1248) it was used as the royal treasury. It also became a part of the Tagus Line; a defensive line, formed by several castles along the river, amongst which the castles of Abrantes, Almourol, Torres Novas, and Tomar.

The castle grew in importance and by the 1330s was one of the most important commanderies of the Hospitallers. Directly after the succession crisis of the 1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum, its defenses were considerably reconstructed by the Portuguese general Nuno Álvares Pereira for John I of Portugal to better withstand Castilian aggression. At the end of the Portuguese Restoration War, in the 1660s, the castle defenses were again reinforced.

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake seriously damaged Belver, which by then had already lost its importance. In the course of the 19th century it was abandoned and came to be used as the village graveyard. The castle was even further damaged by the 1909 Benavente earthquake. This attracted attention and in 1910 it was declared a National Monument, which led to restorations in later decades.

Belver Castle can be visited for a fee. There is an exhibition in the keep, and you can climb all the way to its top. A great castle in a tranquil village.

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