Sao Jorge Castle

Layers of history

People have fortified this hilltop for well over a thousand years, but the castle as it largely stands today dates from the Moorish period, when Muslim rulers held Lisbon. In 1147 the forces of Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king, took the city and the castle after a long siege, with help from passing crusaders. The fortress was later dedicated to Saint George, the patron shared by Portugal and England.

For centuries the castle and the royal palace alongside it formed the seat of power in Lisbon, until the kings moved down to a riverside palace. Earthquakes, including the catastrophic one in 1755, damaged the buildings over time, and much of what visitors walk through today reflects 20th-century restoration of the walls and grounds.

The views

The single best reason to come is the outlook. From the terraces and walls you look straight down over Alfama and the Baixa, across the whole bowl of central Lisbon to the river, the 25 de Abril bridge, and the giant Cristo Rei statue on the far bank. It is the widest, most complete city panorama you can reach on foot in Lisbon.

Inside the walls you can climb the towers and walk the battlements, which give different angles over the city. There are quiet garden paths, the odd peacock wandering the grounds, and a small archaeological site and exhibition with finds from the various peoples who lived on the hill. A camera obscura in one tower projects a live moving image of the city when conditions allow.

Getting up the hill

The castle sits at the top of a steep climb, and getting there is part of the visit. The classic approach is to walk up through the lanes of Alfama, stopping at viewpoints along the way, though the gradient is real and the cobbles are uneven.

If you would rather not climb, the famous tram 28 runs nearby, and small hill buses thread up through the narrow streets closer to the gate. Many people ride up and walk down, since the descent through Alfama is far easier and more scenic than the climb.

Planning your visit

The castle is ticketed, and you pass through the entrance before reaching the main grounds. Allow at least an hour or two to walk the walls, climb a tower or two, and take in the views without rushing. Hours run long, especially in summer, which makes it a good late-afternoon stop.

Sunset is the prize slot, when the light turns the rooftops gold and the river silver, so the terraces get busy then. There is a cafe inside if you want to linger. Comfortable shoes matter for the uneven stone steps and ramparts.

What is inside the walls

The grounds are larger than they look from below. Inside the gate you find shaded gardens with pines and olive trees, the long circuit of restored ramparts with eleven towers to explore, and open terraces angled at the best views. It is an easy place to slow down and let an hour drift by between the walls and the city below.

There is more than just the fortress, too. A permanent exhibition and a small archaeological site display layers left by the Iron Age settlers, the Moors, and medieval Portugal who all lived on the hill. The camera obscura, set in one of the towers and run by a guide, projects a real-time 360-degree image of Lisbon onto a dish, a quirky stop when the weather cooperates.