Giraldo's Castle Ruins

The Ruins of the so called “Giraldo’s Castle” are an important heritage legacy, situated nearby Valverde, Évora, in the vast and delightful Alentejo region.

The Giraldo’s Castle is one of the rare settlement known that had an almost continue human occupancy since the 3rd right up until the 1st millennium before Christ, and afterwards with a sporadic occupancy during the Medieval period.

This interesting natural fortress, settled in one of the Monfurado Mountain foothill at about 334 meters high is a fortified structure from Protohistory, usually attributed to the Bronze Age, yet with many vestiges of afterwards occupancies.
The wall vestiges are still visible nowadays, with around 114 meters long, dating probably from the medieval period.

This settlement was since early times named as “Giraldo’s Castle” for allegedly being the refuge of “Fearless Giraldo” that used it as an operations base on the battles against the Moors. Fearless Giraldo, or Geraldo, was a noble born in the Northern region that left young to the South to fight the Moors, where he leaded a band of bandits. His great achievement was during the Évora’s Christian re-conquest from the Moors, offering the town to the first Portuguese king, D. Afonso Henriques in 1165, using the “Giraldo’s Castle” as a main tool.

This settlement comprehends a small area, of about 0,25 hectares, and was discovered in 1957.