1. LOCATION, ORIGINS OF THE FORTRESS, AND ITS REMAINING RUINS
The castle, a major symbol of the town's history, is located on a Jurassic hill west of the village of Alfeizerão, in the municipality of Alcobaça, at coordinates 39°30'00.8"N 9°06'38.6"W. This is the hill to the right of the N242 road to S. Martinho do Porto, after the parish church and public cemetery.
IT IS PRIVATE PROPERTY.
As it has never been systematically excavated, only three of its towers and the connecting wall are visible on the north side, along with faint traces of a wall to the east and south (image 1), all of these few remains submerged in dense vegetation. The monument is classified as a Site of Public Interest (SIP – “Sítio de Interesse Público”), and its latest legal update was in Notice No. 13711/2012 of 19 November, which enshrines this classification and establishes its Special Protection Zone (ZEP).
The position of the hill facing the nearby Alfeizerão Lagoon gave it a privileged position for a fortification to guard and defend the entrance of the lagoon through the opening between the hills of Facho and Santa Ana. Traditional historiography attributes its Foundation to the Arabs in 714 (Larcher, 1933:37) or 717 (Leal, 1873:117). The former date is more plausible, since in 714 the Arabs, who had entered the Peninsula in 711, had already reached Asturias in the North, three years later. However, the survival of roman inscribed stones on the castle walls (Cosme, 2010:321) raises the possibility that a roman fortification or castro may have existed there in an earlier period.
The Alfeizerão Castle, rebuilt after the Reconquista with a Romanesque design, may owe the circular and semicircular towers of its architectural features to its Arab heritage (Correia, 2013:75). During the time of the Nationality, the fortress had a quadrangular layout with a parade ground surrounded by six circular towers, with two other lower, more robust towers flanking the castle entrance to the east; secondary walls or barbicans completed the defence to the north and east and a quadrangular donjon ( or keep ) with several floors and a roof stood in the parade ground, off-center to the east, a donjon in the style of a fortified manor house (“palace”, is the name given by the chronicler Friar Manuel de Figueiredo in 1780 – cf. Leroux, 2020:126) and which appears to have been depicted in the sketch of the ruins of the fortress drawn by Charles Van Zeller in the 19th century.
2. HISTORICAL SUMMARY – FROM THE RECONQUEST TO ITS NEAR DISAPPEARANCE
According to the Alcobaça historian, Friar António Brandão, the castle was conquered by D. Afonso Henriques in 1148 (Brandão, 1632, p. 185r) and later became part of the territory donated by the first king of Portugal to the Cistercian Order of Alcobaça. This ownership is recorded in the two letters of settlement granted by the Monastery to the residents of Alfeizerão (1332 and 1422): "And we reserve for ourselves our castle, which is now located there, with all its dwellings, entrances, exits, and belongings" (Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Feitos da Coroa, Núcleo Antigo, 339).
The towns of Alcobaça and Alfeizerão, because they had castles, the fortresses of the first magnitude of the Coutos, were governed by Alcaides-Mores ( from the arabic word alqáyid that means governor – we will use the original word Alcaide and Alcaides) appointed by the Monastery and charged with their guard and defence. The two alcaides were always, acccording to the chronicler Friar Manuel dos Santos, in the hands of "people of ancient and well-known nobility." The same chronicler notes that the Alcaides were chosen and presented by the Abbots of Alcobaça, to whom they paid homage and tribute with ostentation and pomp ("in the style of the Royal House of Bragança"), as if they were kings (Santos, 1710). In the 15th and 16th centuries, the alcaide of Alfeizerão was responsible for collecting tithes on fish for the Monastery and to receive goods entering through the port of Alfeizerão (Gonçalves, 1989:130,166). Alongside the major alcaide, there would have been, as in other towns, a lesser alcaide or minor alcaide who was responsible for policing the municipality. In Alfeizerão and Alcobaça, he was chosen by the alcaide-mor (Gonçalves, 1989). We find an explicit reference to this during the Philippine period, that of Amador Boto (see chronology at the end).
The two fortresses ensured the defence of the coast between Atouguia da Baleia/Peniche and Nazaré and, on a broader line, were part of the defence line north of Lisbon formed by castles such as Torres Vedras, Atouguia, Alfeizerão, Alcobaça, Porto de Mós, Ourém, Leiria, and Pombal. Due to their importance, they needed to be repaired and prepared for war. The Monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça was responsible for repairing and maintaining both castles, Alfeizerão and Alcobaça, a task for which the abbots called on the help of the people of Coutos.
The castles of Alfeizerão and Alcobaça watched over the lagoons of Alfeizerão and Pederneira. At the Pederneira lagoon, this role was complemented by the castle or fortification of D. Framundo, near Famalicão da Nazaré, and by several towers, partially confirmed by documentary and archaeological evidence. In terms of the Alfeizerão lagoon, in addition to the castle mentioned above, also had the tower of Salir (with archaeological and cartographic evidence) and a fort at the tip of the promontory where the S. Martinho do Porto lighthouse stands today and which at the end of the 18th century was reduced to an “old tower” (Tofiño de San Miguel, 1789), but which was rebuilt in 1808 at the behest of the French general Thomières in the context of the first French invasion (Neves, 1811:23-25).
The advent of artillery nullified the defensive value of this and other Romanesque castles, which declined during the 17th century and the beginning of the following century. Contrary to popular belief, the castle did not disappear with the Great Earthquake of 1755. As mentioned three years later by the parish priest of Alfeizerão, the prior and vicar Dr. Manuel Romão, although many parts of the castle had collapsed in the earthquake, "quite a few towers remained intact" (Cosme, 2010: 322) — and this is confirmed by iconographic records of the monument. The most pertinent explanation for the monument's widespread degradation is that it must have been inevitable after its abandonment as a military stronghold. The accessible (and easily accessible) stonework of its towers and walls was too precious to be neglected by engineers and workers in public and private construction projects. And although almost nothing remains of the Castle of Alfeizerão in its original location, its ancient stones likely still survive in walls and in house walls, in the stonework of bridges and fountains, and in the base of the paving of maritime docks (a local tradition regarding the pier of S. Martinho do Porto).
In 1834, with the extinction of male religious convents in Portugal, their properties and assets were nationalised, or, in other words, incorporated into the National Treasury. After that, the castle's lands and structures were acquired by private individuals and have remained so to this day. It has become increasingly clear over the years that it would be essential and unavoidable to return the monument to the State's jurisdiction in order to achieve its effective protection, scientific study, and exploitation as a major landmark of historical, tourist and educational interest for the town, parish, and region.
Things seem to be moving in this direction, with a PROPOSAL in the Strategic Urban Rehabilitation Programme promoted by the municipality since March 2023 to acquire the property and create an urban green park for recreation and leisure, with the rehabilitation of the ruined buildings to house the Alfeizerão Castle Interpretation Centre (see the Alcobaça municipality website, file "R01. Alfeizerão ARU Project and Strategic Urban Rehabilitation Programme", p. 96).
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