Castelo de Santiago do Cacém

During the Roman occupation of the Iberian peninsula, the village was called Mirobriga and included the jurisdiction of Pax Julia (currently Beja) The village was occupied by the Alans during the first decades of the 5th century, then abandoned in the 6th century, when the population relocated to a neighbouring hill nearer to the sea.

[1] During the Iberian peninsula's Reconquista period, Santiago do Cacém was taken for the first time in 1157[1] in the context of the conquest of Alcácer do Sal by the forces of Afonso I of Portugal (1112–1185).

[1] In 1186, King Sancho I of Portugal awarded the dominions of Almada, Palmela and Alcácer do Sal to the Order of Santiago.

In 1512, under the reign of Manuel I of Portugal, the Foral Novo was written (an important document relating regional economic and social history).

At the time of the Philippine Dynasty, Philip I of Portugal donated the castle to the dukes of Aveiro (1594).

[1] More recently, the Portuguese DGEMN (Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais) has funded restoration projects.

As he grew old and neared death, he called for his children and told them he wished to share his wealth, asking them to do so harmoniously between themselves.

Three days of heavy fog followed, at the end of which appeared to all as, if by magic, the Castle of Santiago do Cacém.

She came ashore at Sines, marched south and attacked a Moorish settlement governed by a man named Kassen.

(Adapted from Júlio Gil, Os Mais Belos Castelos de Portugal.)