Crato Castle

Crato, Portugal, Portugal

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Crato Castle in Crato, Portugal, was built in the 13th century under King Sancho II as a trapezoidal Gothic fortress with five angular towers, including a northern keep, to defend the Alentejo frontier, later serving as headquarters for the Order of the Hospital (Knights Hospitaller) from 1340.

Expanded in the 14th century by King Pedro I with barbicans and rebuilt around 1430 by Prior Nuno Gonçalves de Góis with town walls featuring six towers like those of Sino and Seda, it was modernized in the 1640s Restoration War into a star-shaped bastioned fortim with artillery platforms, a central cistern, and casemates.

Damaged by Spanish forces in 1662, its ruins blend medieval and Vauban-style defenses at 272 meters elevation, classified as a National Monument.