Portugal: Mourao – Castelo de Mourao

Further north from Mertola along the Spanish border lies another historic whitewash’s town – Mourao – with a massive fortress standing above it on a high ground. Castelo de Mouao. When the Portuguese king took the town from the Moors in the 12th century, he build a fortress here to protect the newly captured Christian lands. A century later Mourao became the border town between Portugal and Spain and the fortress was further expanded and fortified. Finally in the 17th century it was converted into a star-shaped fort to make it completely siege-proof – you can see the outer star bastion as on the perimeter of the fortress while the interior towers and walls are medieval. There is also a functioning church built directly into the fortress’ walls – Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora das Candeias – dating back to 17th century.