Vilar Maior Castle

Vilar Maior Castle, locally known as Castelo de Vila Maior, lies next to the village of the same name in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela region in Portugal.

The first use of this hill, now just 10 km from the Spanish border, may have been a pre-Roman castro (hill fort). Archaeological finds suggest a Roman outpost here, and there may have been an Avar or Visigothic fortification later on. A Muslim fortification here was first mentioned in the mid-11th century, when troops from the Kingdom of León destroyed many frontier fortifications, causing the depopulation of the region.

The Muslim fortification was taken by Leonese troops in 1139. It later fell to the Portuguese, but in 1230, it was recaptured by León. Two years later, King Afonso IX of León ordered its reconstruction and resettlement. Portuguese troops retook it some years afterward, only for it to be dismantled once more. In 1297, it finally became a Portuguese property. King Denis of Portugal then had the castle rebuilt, along with the other border castles in the region, including Alfaiates, Almeida, Castelo Bom, Castelo Melhor, Castelo Mendo, Castelo Rodrigo, Pinhel, and Sabugal.

Vilar Maior Castle was strengthened first during the 14th century and again in 1510 by Manuel of Portugal. Still, by the 17th century, it had lost its strategic importance and had fallen into disuse. During the early 19th-century Peninsular War, the region was a transit point for the Napoleonic troops, and the town and its castle were reportedly invaded and pillaged.

What remains today is an irregular oval curtain wall with an entrance gate and a postern, and a large square keep attached to its outer side. Inside are the remains of an open cistern and the foundations of some buildings. Initially, the walls and the keep would have had battlements, and there would have been a barbican in front of the current gate and outer walls.

Today, Vilar Maior Castle is freely accessible. You can climb the walls, but be careful. Sadly enough, all the interior floors of the keep are gone. A beautiful castle ruin.

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