Today we went to Castello Palmela near to Setubal. As with the last place we visited this was built on the peak of the biggest (in fact only) hill for miles around, as we approached it it became visible from the car and it was possible to see that a number of more modern buildings had been built on to it over the centuries and I found that somehow disappointing at first. When we got there though I totally changed my mind, the place was really crazy cool and the modern parts such as the house where the governor lived - built 18th century I think - were interesting in their own right.
The place covered quite an area with ramparts within ramparts at different levels. Some of it run down, roped off and being actually repaired (rather than pretend repaired like a lot of things in Portugal, it's quite common for them to put a saggy orange fence round something, dig half a hole and leave a few spades or whatever lying around - I think it's the nation state equivalent of leaving everything in the sink "to soak" and pretending to yourself that you've started the washing up) and basically seemed a lot more cared for than the other one we went to - it had a restaurant and a tiny museum and a gift shop where a really friendly woman tricked us into buying a bottle of muscatel and a bottle of red made at a local farm.
Anyway, that was all unimportant really cos the main thing was the view which was.... I dunno, spectacular doesn't do it justice. You could see to the peninsular thing in one direction and all the way to Lisbon (I reckon at least thirty km) in the other. It was really truly incredible, as you climbed, each rampart gave a more awe-inspiring view than the last until the final reveal from the top of the huge tower. There were loads of bits sort of protruding on each side and each offered something new to see cos the land for miles and miles around was totally flat in every direction (well you got the so-called mountains in the the distance to one side I guess).
Near to the castle at the bottom of the hill you could see farms and olive groves and stuff - I can imagine that back in the day it functioned as a panopticon for the boss to check down on his subjects and make sure they were in the fields working and that progress was as he demanded.
As with the other one we went to there was a chapel building too, this one had the remnants of tiles that once again reminded me of the interior of an East London pie and mash shop although this time very few were intact. I guess most people were religious in those days so it shouldn't be a surprised that each castle had its own place of worship but I don't remember this being a standard feature of the British castles I looked round as a child. Probably I just forgot them I guess.
Also the well in the middle of one of the courtyards struck me as something quite impressive - I don't know how deep it had to be to get through the castle and then the mountain to water (it was covered over with a grating and overgrown) but I imagine pretty fucking deep. It immediately set me thinking of body disposal in some kind of Brother Cadfael/Name of the Rose style medieval mystery.
Here it is on the map - the red lines are how far you could see
Here's the castle from the top of the hill as you approach
By the side of the governor's house
The main tower - I think they alerted Lisbon that they had won a famous battle over the Spanish by lighting a fire on top here one time.
