Castle of Vilar Maior

Portugal, Portugal

---

Castle of Vilar Maior is a medieval fortress in the village of Vilar Maior, Sabugal municipality, Guarda district, northeastern Portugal, overlooking the Côa River valley near the Spanish border.

Originating from a pre-Roman castro fortified by Romans around 60 AD, it was rebuilt after Leonese conquest from the Moors in 1139, with major reconstruction around 1232 under King Afonso IX of León and walls completed by 1280 under Alfonso X of Castile.

Conquered by King Dinis in 1296 who granted a foral charter, it was secured for Portugal via the 1297 Treaty of Alcanices, featuring an irregular oval Romanesque-Gothic plan with high granite walls, rounded battlements, a square keep tower, cistern, and gates like Rua do Arco bearing inscriptions.

Granted couto status in 1440 for repopulation and Manueline foral renewal in 1510, it declined militarily by the 17th century, surviving as ruins classified as a Public Interest Building.