Almeida

Almeida sits on a hill in eastern Portugal, 15 kilometers from Spain. Its star-shaped stone walls from the 1600s surround streets where you can touch Roman carvings, walk through tunnels built to stop Napoleon’s troops, and see craters from exploded gunpowder stores. You can explore dry moats deeper than three grown men, bunkers that hid entire families during wars, and a museum with maps showing how armies attacked these walls. Beyond the fortress, fields hold traces of villages from the Bronze Age. At lunchtime, restaurants serve lamb cooked for hours in clay pots the same way people have done here for centuries.

Walking the Fortress Walls

The 12-pointed stone fortress took 70 years to build, finishing in the early 1700s. Six triangular bastions connect walls thick enough to survive cannon hits. Start at the Portas de São Francisco gate – walk through its 40-meter tunnel under the walls, then look down into the dry moat wide as four buses parked side by side. Below your feet, vaulted rooms stored enough grain to feed 5,000 people during sieges. Climb the ramparts near Cruz Gate to see original cannons aimed across the plains toward Spain. The Military Museum here displays a French general’s handwritten surrender note from 1810 and shrapnel from the explosion that destroyed part of the fortress.

Three Battles That Changed the Fortress

In 1762, Spanish troops broke through after starving the town for a month, but had to leave when peace treaties were signed. The worst disaster came at 10 AM on August 26, 1810, when a French bomb hit the gunpowder room. The blast killed 500 Portuguese soldiers and blew stone blocks as far as the churchyard. A scar in the ground near the old castle still marks where the explosion happened. Before these battles, Moors built a castle here in the 1100s – its foundation stones now lie under the northeast bastion. Keep an eye out for Roman numbers carved into rocks near the main gate, left by soldiers who repaired roads 2,000 years ago.

Churches, Ruins and Ancient Art

The Misericórdia Church keeps 17th-century paintings showing saints with realistic torn clothes and dusty feet, all framed in gold. Stones from the medieval castle blown up in 1810 were reused to build the Matriz Church’s bell tower. Drive 8 minutes west to Castelo Bom, where a 12th-century tower overlooks the Côa River valley – climb its worn steps for views of abandoned shepherd villages. At Castelo Mendo, 15 minutes northeast, collapsed houses from the 1300s stand beside a rainwater cistern big enough to supply 200 people. Near the N332 road, archaeologists found a Roman floor mosaic showing fish; part of it sits in Guarda Museum’s third room.

Meals and Festivals Through the Year

Butchers here prepare hare meat for arroz de lebre, a rice dish simmered with rosemary and garlic for three hours. In February, cooks compete to make the best lamb stew using recipes from their grandparents – taste samples at stands around the main square. August turns the fortress into a stage: actors in French and Portuguese uniforms reenact the 1810 siege, firing replica cannons at 4 PM daily. On the first Sunday after Easter, families carry flower-decorated floats to a chapel by the Côa River, then picnic on almond cakes and cheese rolls. Most restaurants close by 10 PM except during festivals.

Reaching Almeida by Road or Rail

From Madrid, drive 2.5 hours northwest on the A62 and A25 highways – you’ll cross the border at Vilar Formoso, then see Almeida’s walls rising ahead. If coming from Lisbon, take the A1 past Coimbra, then the A23 through Guarda; watch for brown signs pointing to the fortress exit. Trains from Porto stop at Vilar Formoso station, where a taxi costs €15 to reach Almeida. Park free in the lot outside Portas de São Francisco gate. Bring good shoes – the cobblestone streets slope steeply near the walls. Between June and September, carry water while walking the ramparts; shade is rare up on the walls.