Guimaraes - Castelo

Above the town rears the gray bulk of the 10th C. castle, with its high, slender battlements, one of the most complete and best preserved medieval strongholds in Portugal. As the birthplace on June 24, 1110 of the first Portuguese king, Afonso Henriques, it is also something of a national shrine. In the middle of the oval courtyard rises the tall and massive keep, the Torre de Menagem, which could hold out on its own if need be.