Pombal Castle

Pombal Castle

A Templar castle on the hill

On a green hill above the town of Pombal, in central Portugal, stand the strong walls and tall keep of a castle built by one of the most famous groups of warriors in history: the Knights Templar. These were monks who were also soldiers, sworn to defend Christian lands. In Portugal they built a whole chain of castles to hold the frontier against the Moors, and Pombal was one of them.

Gualdim Pais and the frontier

The castle was founded around 1156 by Gualdim Pais, the master of the Templars in Portugal — the same remarkable knight who built the castles of Tomar and Almourol. He chose this hilltop to guard the lands and roads between the rivers Mondego and Tagus, where the border with the Moors still lay close by.

In those days a frontier castle was a busy, vital place. From behind its walls knights kept watch over the countryside, sheltered travellers and farmers in times of danger, and rode out to defend the king's lands. Slowly, as the Christian kingdom pushed the frontier southward, towns like Pombal grew up safely in the shadow of their castles.

A long, quiet history

Once the frontier had moved far away, Pombal Castle was no longer needed for war, and its later history was mostly peaceful. The town below gave its name to one of the most important figures in Portuguese history: the Marquis of Pombal, the powerful minister who rebuilt the city of Lisbon after the terrible earthquake of 1755. He spent his final years in the town of Pombal, and he died there in 1782.

Over the long centuries the castle suffered from time, weather and the great earthquake, which damaged its walls. By the 1800s it had become a romantic ruin on the hill.

Restored for all to enjoy

In modern times the castle has been carefully restored, its keep and walls repaired so that visitors can once more climb the hill and explore. From a forgotten ruin it has become the proud symbol of the town, often used for festivals and historical events that bring the days of the Templars back to life.

Visiting today

Visitors who walk up to Pombal Castle can climb the keep, stroll along the battlements, and look out over the town and the rolling green hills of central Portugal. Standing among the old stones, it is easy to picture the white-cloaked Templar knights who once kept watch here, part of the long and dangerous task of building a new kingdom. Together with Tomar and Almourol, Pombal is a link in a chain of castles that tells the story of Portugal's warrior monks.