São Jorge Castle, Lisbon: Views Over the Old City

São Jorge Castle crowns the highest of Lisbon’s old hills, its crenellated walls and square towers visible from almost every viewpoint in the city. People have lived on this hilltop since the Iron Age; it was the walled citadel of Islamic Lisbon, the prize of the crusader siege of 1147, and from the thirteenth century to the early sixteenth the seat of Portugal’s kings. This guide explains that history, what you will find inside the walls, and how to plan a visit. One thing to know from the start: on our Discover Portugal small group tour, the group ends its Day 2 walk through Alfama in the area of São Jorge Castle and views it from outside only. There is no visit inside on the tour, so the second half of this guide is written for travellers who want to go in on their own time, for example on the free day on Day 4.

A hilltop older than Lisbon

Excavations inside the walls have found traces of settlement from the seventh century BC. Of the Roman town of Olisipo, almost nothing has been identified up here.

The hill came into its own under Islamic rule. A Muslim settlement may date from the eighth century, and by the tenth century Lisbon was a madina, a walled city, with a fortified citadel or kasbah on the summit. An inscription dated 985 credits the powerful minister Almanzor with major building work. Remains of an eleventh-century residential quarter from this period survive inside the walls today. The castle we see is essentially a later, Gothic building raised inside the old Islamic enclosure.

1147: the crusaders at the gates

The turning point came in 1147. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, had already failed to take Lisbon in 1142. Five years later a fleet of crusaders bound for the Holy Land on the Second Crusade, English, Scottish, Flemish and German, put in at Porto, and the king persuaded them to join him. The siege began on 1 July. After months of hunger, the defenders agreed to surrender on 21 October, and the gates opened four days later. Despite the terms, the city was sacked. Our article on Lisbon as the Queen of the Sea and its Moorish and maritime past follows what came next.

Lisbon remembers the siege in a legend. A knight named Martim Moniz is said to have wedged his own body in a gate of the castle so that it could not be closed, holding it open long enough for his companions to force their way in. The square at the foot of the hill and its metro station still carry his name. Inside the castle, a copy of Soares dos Reis’s statue of Afonso Henriques in Guimarães has stood in the Place of Arms since 1947.

A royal palace above the river

Once Lisbon became the capital in the thirteenth century, the hilltop became a royal residence. The earliest references to a castle here date to Afonso III and his son Dinis. What survives is a Gothic fortress: a roughly square plan, an angled gateway, ten square towers in the curtain wall, and a barbican with a moat on the exposed south-eastern side.

The dedication to Saint George belongs to the reign of John I, the Master of Avis, proclaimed king in 1385. He married Philippa of Lancaster and sealed the alliance with England in the Treaty of Windsor, and Portugal adopted England’s patron saint as protector of the kingdom and its army. His daughter Isabella was married by proxy to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in Lisbon in 1429, and John himself died in the royal palace on the hill in 1433.

In the early sixteenth century Manuel I built a new palace on the riverfront, where Praça do Comércio stands today and the court moved down to the water. After the union of the Portuguese and Spanish crowns in 1580, the castle became a garrison, a prison and a military hospital.

Earthquake, barracks and the castle you see today

The earthquake of 1755 badly damaged both the castle and the old royal palace, and a large military barracks was later built over their ruins. The complex of Lisbon Castle and City Walls was classified as a National Monument by decree of 16 June 1910. In the late 1930s, under the Estado Novo regime, the barracks were demolished and the medieval walls were rebuilt.

The castle’s outline is medieval, but much of the walling and many of the battlements were rebuilt in this campaign, so treat the crenellations as a restoration rather than untouched medieval fabric. The whole monument covers about four hectares; it belongs to the Portuguese State and is managed today by EGEAC, the city of Lisbon’s cultural agency.

Is São Jorge Castle worth visiting?

Yes, if you value the view and the sense of Lisbon’s layout as much as the building itself. The castle is less a single monument than a walled park on the city’s highest point, with the best panorama in Lisbon, a short but well-presented archaeological site, and ramparts you can walk. Travellers expecting richly furnished interiors will be disappointed: the palace is a ruin, and much of the walling is a twentieth-century restoration. For a sense of how the castle fits into the rest of the old city, our guide to things to do in Lisbon sets it alongside Belém, the Baixa and the riverfront.

What is there to see inside São Jorge Castle?

The castle’s official name is Castelo de São Jorge, often written Sao Jorge Castle in English. Inside the walls, visitors can explore the viewpoint terrace, the castle and its wall-walks, the archaeological site, the Ulysses Tower periscope and the museum. At the time of writing, the ticket gives access to the monument and its gardens without time limits during opening hours, and includes a guided tour.

The viewpoint terrace. Shaded by umbrella pines and lined with old cannon, the terrace looks west and south over the grid of the Baixa, rebuilt after 1755, to Praça do Comércio on the site of Manuel I’s palace, the Tagus estuary and the long suspension bridge beyond. It is the obvious place to begin, and late afternoon light is particularly fine here.

The castle and its walls. Within the inner castle, stairs lead up from the Place of Arms to the wall-walks, which connect the towers. At the time of writing, wall-walks and towers close earlier than the rest of the site: at 5:30 pm in winter, and in summer at a time between 6 and 9 pm that varies with daylight.

The Ulysses Tower. The tower now named after Ulysses, the legendary founder of Lisbon, held the royal archive, the Torre do Tombo, from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. Today it houses a camera obscura, a periscope that shows a live 360-degree view of the city. Visits are only with a short guided session, run at set hours that vary with the month and depend on the weather, so ask at the ticket office on the day.

The archaeological site. Under a modern canopy, excavated walls show three layers of the hill’s history: traces of the earliest settlement from the seventh century BC, houses of the Islamic quarter from the eleventh century, and the ruins of the Palace of the Counts of Santiago, destroyed after the 1755 earthquake. At the time of writing, entry is limited to those on the general guided tour, “Discovering the Castle”, which lasts up to an hour and is included in the ticket; places are limited and are allocated at the ticket office on the day.

The museum. The permanent exhibition displays objects found on the hill, from the seventh century BC to the eighteenth century, with an emphasis on the Islamic period of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. At the time of writing the official site lists it as temporarily closed for works, so check before you go if it matters to you.

How long do you need at São Jorge Castle?

As a rough guide, allow about two hours: the included “Discovering the Castle” tour lasts about an hour and the camera obscura session up to 20 minutes, plus time on the terrace and walls.

How much walking and climbing does the castle involve?

A fair amount: the castle sits at the top of a steep hill, the paths inside are a mix of cobbles, gravel and stone, and the wall-walks involve narrow, uneven steps without much handrail. The approach through Alfama climbs on cobbled lanes, so good shoes with grip are essential. You can save the steepest part of the climb by taking bus 737 from Praça da Figueira to a stop about two minutes’ walk from the entrance, or tram 28E to the Santa Luzia or Portas do Sol stops, about five minutes away; public lifts also link the Baixa to the castle slopes.

The castle’s accessibility page describes a level route from the entrance to the eastern viewpoint, a ramp at the ticket office and the museum, four wheelchairs available, and an adapted toilet. Visitors with reduced mobility can arrange to arrive by car if they contact the castle at least a day ahead. The towers and wall-walks, however, are reached only by steps.

How do you avoid queues at São Jorge Castle?

Buy your ticket in advance from the castle’s official online ticket office, BOL, and arrive near opening time at 9:00. Buying online avoids the ticket-office queue, and ticket holders can go straight to the entrance. The included guided tours, however, are booked at the ticket office on arrival, first come first served, with limited places. The castle opens every day except 1 January, 1 May and 24, 25 and 31 December, and stays open later from March to October than in winter; last admission is half an hour before closing. Reduced tickets are available for visitors aged 65 and over, with proof of age at the entrance. Times and arrangements change, so check the official website before you go.

São Jorge Castle on Day 2 of the tour

On the tour, the castle comes at the end of a long and varied Lisbon day. Day 2 is spent first in Belém, at the Pastéis de Belém café-factory, the Jerónimos Monastery and the Tower of Belém, with a view of the Monument to the Discoveries, then moves on to Alfama, Lisbon’s oldest neighbourhood. The group strolls through its cobbled streets and stops at the viewpoints of Santa Luzia and Portas do Sol before ending the day in the area of São Jorge Castle to view the Moorish castle overlooking Lisbon and the Tagus. As the tour itinerary puts it, there is no internal visit.

Day 4 is a free day in Lisbon, with the group meeting again in the evening for dinner and a Fado performance at a local restaurant. This is the natural chance to go back up the hill and inside the walls, perhaps early in the morning before the crowds, taking tram 28E or bus 737 to save your legs. The tour is rated Level 2, Moderate, and asks for three to five hours of activity a day, the equivalent of walking up to 8 kilometres on uneven ground, and Alfama’s hills and cobbles make for a demanding afternoon. For planning the wider trip, our Portugal travel guide and 18-day itinerary covers the best time to visit, getting there and how each region fits together.

Seen from Portas do Sol or from the terrace inside, São Jorge Castle explains Lisbon better than any map: the river that made the city, the hill that defended it, and the low grid of the Baixa rebuilt after the earthquake. On the Discover Portugal small group tour, a group of up to 16 travellers sees it with an Odyssey Program Leader at the end of a day in Alfama, with a free day afterwards for anyone who wants to climb back up and walk the walls.