Moorish Walls & Rule

This place tells a story that changed everything. The castle walls towering above you were built by North African Moors who ruled here for 433 years, from 711 to 1147. They called this place Al-Ushbuna, meaning "the city of waters." The Moors were Muslim inhabitants from North Africa who transformed this hilltop into a fortified citadel. In the 10th and 11th centuries, they constructed these massive stone walls, 2 to 2.5 meters thick, enclosing 15.6 hectares that stretched from the castle down to the river. Inside lived about 5,000 people, half of them Christians, in a walled city protected by sophisticated defenses. Arabic geographers documented the gates in these walls, each with poetic names. Bab al-Hamma, meaning "Gate of the Hot Springs," gave the Alfama district its name. Other gates included Bab al-Bahr (Gate of the Sea) and Bab al-Maqbara (Gate of the Sun). The walls you see at São Jorge Castle withstood countless attacks from both Christian and Islamic forces. In 1147, Portuguese King Afonso Henriques and crusading armies finally conquered the city after months of siege, ending Moorish rule and transforming the Islamic alcazar into a royal palace.