Castle of Óbidos

Castle of Óbidos (Castelo de Óbidos)
Castle (Castelo)
Principle view of the Castle of Óbidos and Palace of the Alcalde
Official name: Castelo de Óbidos/Castelo e cerca urbana de Óbidos/Pousada de Óbidos
Named for: Óbidos
Country	Portugal
Region	Centro
Subregion	Oeste
District	Leiria
Municipality	Óbidos
Location	Santa Maria, São Pedro e Sobral da Lagoa
- coordinates	39°21′48″N 9°9′25″W / 39.36333°N 9.15694°W / 39.36333; -9.15694Coordinates: 39°21′48″N 9°9′25″W / 39.36333°N 9.15694°W / 39.36333; -9.15694
Architects	Fernando Augusto Peres de Guimarães, João Filipe Vaz Martins, Leonardo Castro Freires, Luís Benavente
Style	Medieval
Materials	Masonry, AdobeCantaria, Tile, Wood, Ceramics, Glass, Iron, Reinforced concrete
Owner	Portuguese Republic
For public	Public
Easiest access	Rua Direita
Management	Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico
Operator	ENATUR SA (DL 622/76, 4 August 1976) and group dispatch from the Ministério das Finanças (Finance Ministry) and the Plano e do Comércio e do Turismo, Diário da República, Série 2 , 43 (21 February 1980)
Status	National Monument Monumento Nacional
Listing	Decree 16 June 1910; DG136 23 June 1910; Decree 38/147, DG, Série 1, 5 January 1951; Special Protection Zone (ZEP), Dispatch, DG, Série 2, 219 (18 September 1948)

The Castle of Óbidos (Portuguese: Castelo de Óbidos) is a well-preserved medieval castle located in the civil parish of Santa Maria, São Pedro e Sobral da Lagoa, in the municipality of Óbidos, Portuguese district of Leiria.

Óbidos had its foundation in the existence of a fortified settlement, likely over the Luso-Roman castro and Roman oppidum (then civitas) on the hilltop, that was the mysterious Eburobrittium, once cited by Pliny the Elder as being situated between Collipo (near present-day Leiria) and Olisipo (Lisbon). Archeological surveys later resulted in the discovery of a forum, baths and other Roman structures near the settlement. The area was later settled by the Lusitanos (since the 4th century BC) and Romans in the first century, but later occupied by Visigoths during the 5th and 6th century and Muslims, who were responsible for fortifying the town in the 8th century.

During the Christian Reconquista, forces under the first Portuguese king Afonso I (1112–1185) defeated the settlement's defenses through a ruse, on 10 January 1148. The first surveys of the castle were undertaken in 1153, although the castle was never completely conquered until the reign of King D. Sancho I (in 1195), as documented in the epigraph Torre do Facho. Also at this time, the Albarra tower was converted into a jail, when the walls were reformulated by King Sancho I. The old dungeon was restored and expanded by King D. Denis, while the barbicans alongside the main gate was constructed.