Cabeço de Vide Castle

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

The original Muslim settlement of Cabeço de Vide was conquered by Afonso I of Portugal in 1160. During the punitive campaign of the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur in 1190, it again fell into Muslim hands but was destroyed in the process.

Probably in the 14th century, during the Reconquista, the area definitively came back into Christian hands. The village was then rebuilt on and around a hill, with the castle at its highest point. The castle may have been rebuilt on earlier remains, but that is not certain.

The domains of Cabeço de Vide were donated to Diogo de Azambuja in the early 16th century. At that time, the town was of regional importance.

In the mid-17th century, during the Portuguese Restoration War, the town suffered severe damage, after which it fell into decline. When the castle fell to ruin is not known, maybe during that period.

The sole remnant of the castle today is the somewhat elliptical curtain wall. There is only one gate, adorned with a coat of arms of the Military Order of Aviz. Its interior is empty, apart from a modern water tower.

Cabeço de Vide Castle now sits in a small municipal park and can only be visited externally. A not so very interesting castle in a sleepy town.

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