Terena Castle

Terena Castle, locally known as Castelo de Terena, lies in a village of the same name in the Alentejo Central region in Portugal.

Exactly when Terena Castle was built is unknown. It is thought most likely to have been built sometime around between 1325 and 1332, during the reign of king Afonso IV of Portugal. Although a date shortly after 1262, when the village first received its charter, has also been proposed. It is even possible that it may have had a Moorish predecessor.

The castle was part of a strategic line of castles, together with the castles of Elvas, Alandroal and Juromenha. In 1413, works started to strengthen the castle and to connect it to a new town wall. Work progressed slowly, because in 1436 they were still not finished, apparently because the village had lost many of its inhabitants due to the climate of insecurity caused by the wars with Castile. The castle and settlement were then donated to the knight Nuno Martins da Silveira, with the purpose to resettle it.

The descendants of Da Silveira later became mayors of the village and during the remainder of the 15th and the early 16th centuries carried out restorations and alterations of Terena Castle.

During the Portuguese Restoration War, the castle was occupied and then sacked by Castilian forces, in 1652. It sustained damage during by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. This damage was never restored, probably because by then the castle had already been abandoned. The castle ruin was restored and consolidated several times during the 20th century.

The castle has an irregular pentagonal plan, with 4 D-shaped towers, 3 angular bastions and a rectangular keep. It originally had 3 gates, 2 of them were bricked up at some point in time, leaving only the main gate, which provides access from the village. The main gate is guarded by the keep and protected by a small barbican.

When I visited, Terena Castle was freely accessible. A very nice castle in a sleepy village. Nearby is also the Boa Nova Chapel, which is a fortified church, contemporary to the castle.

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