Around the eighth century, the Moors constructed a medieval castle on top of a hill overlooking the town of Sintra. It was one of two such structures built at the same time (the other becoming the National Palace of Sintra). In 1031, the Almoravid Dynasty (Berbers from Morocco), who controlled most of the region, turned Sintra over to Alfonso VI in order to form an alliance with the Christian King. Following the "conquest of Lisbon" in 1117, the rest of the territory returned to the control of the Portuguese monarchy. By 1375, the castle was rebuilt, but by this period, its military importance had greatly diminished and it was soon abandoned. The complex was severely damaged by the 1755 earthquake. Over the following few years, some reconstruction projects were attempted in order to consolidate the walls and to create some manicured spaces. In 1979, archeological excavations discovered the existence of several medieval funerary tombs, dating to the turn of the 13th century. The castle was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the rest of Sintra, in 1995. Today, all that remains is the nearly 1500 foot perimeter wall, containing five rectangular fortified towers and one circular tower. Inside the walls are the main ruins of the old buildings. The one intact structure, a Chapel, lies just outside the wall near the entrance. There is speculation that this "might" have been used as a mosque by the moors when they first constructed the castle, but there is no hard evidence to prove this one way or another. One thing is for certain, the views from this hilltop structure are phenomenal!
...and the Reguleira Palace.