[3] Its location on a rocky peninsular bend was of strategic importance, as it controlled the ancient Roman road Via Lusitanorum crossing the Quarteira River on the south.

[3][4] Concerned with advancing Christian armies from the north, the Almohads began an intensive period of military construction and fortification in the Algarve (in Paderne, Faro, Loulé and Silves and many other locations).

The depopulation of the Muslim countryside, caused by Christian raids, while avoiding outright conflict, resulted in the construction of these type of fortifications, which were used secure relative safety for their citizens in the interior of the Algarvean Barrocal (mountains).

In 1191 Muslim forces of the Almohad dynasty under the command of Caliph Abu Yusuf Ya’qub al-Mansur recaptured the castle and surrounding lands.

Following a series of restorations, King Denis of Portugal donated the castle to the Master of the Order of Avis, D. Lourenço Anes, as an attempt to make it a viable military and economic centre.

Owing to its isolation and state of ruin, in 1858, the castle was abandoned and its hermitage (local parish church, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Assunção) was deactivated.

The candidate entity was responsible for the recuperation of the walls, in taipa, the archaeological study and museological assessment of the site, including the old dependencies within the courtyard, the drainage of the monument, and lastly, the consolidation of the ruins of the Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Assunção.

The rural, isolated castle is located on a high hilltop over a profound valley, covered in Mediterranean vegetation, olive groves, fig and carob trees.