Castle of Melgaço

As the main defense of the crossing of the Alto Minho river to Galicia, it constitutes the most northern sentry point in Portugal from the twelfth century.

Still under the reign of King Manuel I, village defenses and its castle layout are figured in the Duarte de Armas (Book of Fortresses, c. 1509), made up of three towers and two gates.

Recently, with the development of the village's historic core recovery projects, the keep of the castle was reclassified as a museum center, exposing the testimonies obtained by archaeological research.

The walls, where they tear two doors are surmounted by prismatic battlements and reinforced by three towers, the main one being that is focused on the urban core, pentagonal section.

Thanks to recent archaeological research, which laid bare significant stretches of gothic fence, we can now make the idea of the original design.