Olivenza Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

In the heart of the old town of Olivenza, a few kilometres from the Portuguese border, the castle forms the nucleus of an extensive defensive system of medieval origin. Its history is inseparable from that of this town, which was for a long time Portuguese: King Denis of Portugal had the first enceinte built at the beginning of the fourteenth century, before the Order of Avis took over the work. The monument is dominated by a keep of exceptional height (36 to 40 m depending on the sources), begun in the fourteenth century and improved under John II at the end of the fifteenth century, reputedly the tallest in Portugal. It is climbed by a succession of vaulted ramps, designed to allow pack animals to ascend, and its terrace offers a wide panorama. The thick walls, which have no merlons, relied on machicolations for their defence. The castle today houses part of the González Santana Extremaduran Ethnographic Museum.