Lisbon - the exotic city of Europe II

Busy days are busy days and there aren't busier days than when you are in vacation, so I think it's time to continue the City of Lisbon story, the city that stole my heart.

In the first episode of this story I told you about the first things that caught on me and made me love this city from the first day - the staircase streets, the fountains, the wide squares, the moorish influence and how this city is a fairy tale castle town. (You can find the first article here.) Today I'm going to write about.. you guessed right - the castle.

São Jorge Castle, the hilltop castle, is the site of Lisbon's founding settlement, which dates back to the 7th century BC, however, the castle remains are from.. yes, you are right again, these are from the Moorish era.

In 711, Islamic Moors invaded the Christian Iberian Peninsula and conquered Lisbon in 714. Despite attempts to seize it by the Normans in 844 and by Alfonso VI in 1093, Lisbon remained a Muslim possession. Only in 1147, after a four-month siege, Christian crusaders under the command of Afonso I captured the city and Christian rule returned.

The castle itself dates from mid-10th century, built by the moors as the stronghold for the citadel.

After the castle was regained by Portugal, it has been extensively renovated around 1300 by King Denis I, transforming the Moorish alcáçova into the Royal Palace of the Alcáçova. Between 1373 and 1375, King Ferdinand I ordered the building of the Cerca Nova or Cerca Fernandina, the walled compound that enclosed the entirety of the castle. The master builders João Fernandes and Vasco Brás were responsible for its construction. They built the wall, which partially replaced the old Moorish walls, and encircled previously unprotected parts of the city. Completed in two years, it had 77 towers and a perimeter of 5,400 metres (17,700 ft).

Today, only few parts remain standing of the mighty old castle, even with the imaginatively restoration done in 1938. The battles and the great earthquake in 1755 left their mark.

So when visiting the castle, let your imagination take control and reconstruct in your mind the old parts of the castle that are missing.

As you walk through the ruins, remember these are not just remnants of an old castle, but the remnants of the old Royal Palace of Portugal. Try to imagine with every step how it all looked in its glorious past, from 14th to 16th century.

Your visit should start first with its ramparts and garden, filled with pines and far-reaching views over Lisbon.

As you walk along the castle garden, you will notice a big tower standing out. That is Tower of Ulysses (Torre de Ulisses), which once housed the royal treasury and archives and was nicknamed Torre do Tombo (Tumbling Tower) because the most important things used to 'tumble' into it.

You know then that it is time to start exploring the inner battlements of the castle. Do you remember how in all the childhood stories, the castles had a beautiful entrance with a beautiful bridge over a small river? Well that is what you find in Lisbon.

I could almost imagine the princes and princesses riding in carriages across the bridge and royal soldiers riding on their horses. Or commoners just strolling for their daily business. If I had lived centuries ago, I think I would have chosen to be a commoner, watching the royals living a complicated life while I was living a simple life, un-touched by drama and murderous complots. I would have probably sold flowers, trying to make people aware again of the beauty of nature.

I'd like to think that, but probably I would have still been involved in strange affairs not because I'd wanted to but because I would have been caught at the wrong place, at the wrong time.. all because of my curiosity to explore, not other people business, but to explore places, to go on top of a tower and see the view of Lisbon from there.

And this is just what I did in December when I was at São Jorge Castle - explored, explored and explored every brick and every place, climbed every staircase I could have, watched the view from every angle of every still standing tower.

While you are at the São Jorge Castle, don't forget to also check out the Archaeological site. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in western Europe, with a history that stretches back to its original settlement by the indigenous Iberians, the Celts, and the eventual establishment of Phoenician and Greek trading posts (c. 800–600 BC), followed by successive occupations in the city of various peoples including the Carthaginians, Romans, Suebi, Visigoths, and later Moors.

São Jorge Castle is a place you totally must visit!