Castle of Santa Maria da Feira

Castle of Santa Maria da Feira

A storybook fortress

If you asked a child to draw a castle, the result might look a lot like the Castle of Santa Maria da Feira. Standing on a wooded hill in northern Portugal, south of the great city of Porto, it has everything a fairy-tale castle should have: a strong central keep, sturdy walls, and — most magical of all — four slender towers topped with pointed, cone-shaped roofs that rise into the sky like wizards' hats. It is one of the most beautiful and best-loved castles in the whole country.

An ancient holy hill

The hill on which the castle stands has been important for a very long time. In ancient times people are said to have worshipped here, and later a Christian community grew up around it. The area became known for its great fairs — markets where people from far and wide came to buy and sell — and that is how the town got its name: Feira means "fair" in Portuguese.

A castle was recorded on this hill as far back as the 11th century, guarding the lands and the busy fair below. Over the centuries it was held by powerful noble families who served the kings of Portugal.

The towers we see today

The dramatic keep with its pointed turrets, which makes the castle so famous, was largely built in the 1400s by the noble Pereira family, who held the title of Counts of Feira. They turned the older fortress into a grand and impressive stronghold that announced their power for all to see. With its tall central tower and graceful cone-roofed turrets, the castle became one of the finest examples of military architecture of its time in Portugal.

Fire and ruin

The castle's later history was not always happy. In the 1700s a great fire broke out and gutted much of the building, and afterwards it was left to fall into ruin. For many years the proud fortress stood roofless and overgrown, its halls open to the rain.

Saved as a national treasure

Luckily, the people of Portugal came to treasure the romantic ruin on the hill. In modern times the castle was carefully restored, its towers repaired and its grounds turned into a much-loved park. Today it is a national monument and the proud symbol of the town of Santa Maria da Feira, which also holds one of Europe's largest medieval festivals each summer, filling the streets below with knights, jugglers and market stalls.

Visiting today

Visitors who climb the wooded hill can explore the keep, walk the battlements and gaze up at the famous pointed turrets against the sky. Inside, displays tell the story of the castle and the families who held it. With its perfect storybook shape and its lively medieval festival, the Castle of Santa Maria da Feira is a place where the age of knights and castles still feels wonderfully alive.