Little is known about when the first peoples settled in the area of Marvão, but Roman forces began to appear in the region, following the strategic road linking it with Cáceres Santarém and bridge over the River Sever.

During the early Middle Ages, the Swabians, Visigoths and eventually the Umayyad Arabs began to settle in the area.

The first foral (charter) was issued in 1226 by King D. Sancho II (1223–1248), done to ensure the development of the unpopulated outpost, against repeated attacks from the Kingdom of Castile.

[1] At the end of these events, the fields of Marvão, Portalegre and Arronches were exchanged for those in Sintra and Ourém, becoming regal possessions/property by 1300.

[1] At that stage, they have also proceeded to increase the reinforcements to the walls, with turrets dating back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

[1] Repairs to the walls were undertaken in 1662, to remediate the damaged caused during the Restoration Wars, under the direction of Luís Serrão Pimentel [pt].

[1] The beginning of the Peninsular Wars saw Jean-Andoche Junot's French corps intercede with the support of their Spanish allies, but in 1808, the military square was liberated.

[1] In 1938, the DGMEN Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (Directorate General for Buildings and National Monuments) began working on repairing the walls, staircases and battlements.

[1] The rural castle crowns the quartzite clifftops of a hilltop that is 867 metres (2,844 ft) at its highest point, at the keep tower.

[1] The primitive, rectangular keep tower is situated in the southern angle with cracks, that includes a rounded gate with smooth, tympanum over concave sill.

[1] The first courtyard of the castle includes three, one-storey buildings with slits for handheld arms and covered in tiles, representing the old bunkers and armories.

[1] These include a tall central keep with raised entrance on the first floor; a series of lower, outlying turrets (some semi-circular); high-placed arrow-slits; and open spaces to aid the sheltering and assembly of villagers and troops.

[1] A series of narrow "killing zones," notably, in the triple gate on the village-side of the castle, extensive crenellated battlements and curtain walls also enhance the natural defensibility of Marvão's rocky escarpments.