The National Museum Machado de Castro (Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro) is an art museum in Coimbra, Portugal, named after the renowned Portuguese sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro. It first opened in 1913 and its latest renovation (2004-2012), which included the addition of a new building, was awarded the Piranesi/Prix de Rome Prize 2014.
Museum's history
The Machado de Castro Museum is one of the most important art museums in Portugal. It is housed in the former Bishop's Palace. This palace was built from the Middle Ages onwards roughly on the site where the Roman forum of Aeminium (Coimbra's Roman name) once stood. The remains of this distant past, the Cryptoporticus, can be visited on the lower floors of the museum.
Collections
The bulk of the museum's collection is made up of items from churches and religious institutions in the area surrounding Coimbra. The collections of sculpture (the 

Machado de Castro National Museum

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O Castelo de Penacova localizava-se na vila, freguesia e concelho de mesmo nome, Distrito de Coimbra, em Portugal.

História

Antecedentes

Embora se identifiquem diversos testemunhos da passagem dos primitivos povoadores da península Ibérica na região (Fenícios, Romanos, Visigodos e Muçulmanos), nenhum se radicou permanentemente na área do castelo.

O castelo medieval

Historiograficamente, Pinho Leal é o único a afirmar a existência de um castelo no local, localizando-o no monte Sul, onde depois se construiu a Igreja Matriz. Outros autores lembram que a expressão pena, geralmente se refere, à época, a um pequeno castelo sobre um afloramento rochoso.

A construção desse castelo, é atribuída ao conde Sesnando Davides, governador da circunscrição conimbricense, cujo mandato lhe foi outorgado por Fernando Magno, soberano que havia conquistado Coimbra aos mouros desde 1064, trazendo a Reconquista cristã da península Ibérica até à região.

A primeira referência documental à povoação data de 1105, no contexto de uma disputa entre as gentes de Penacova e os monges do poderoso Mosteiro de Lorvão, obrigando à intervenção pessoal do conde D. Henrique para a reconciliação, sendo, portanto, anterior à nacionalidade.

A segunda referência é constituída pela Carta de Foral, passada por D. Sancho I (1185-1211) em 1192 (cf. Pinho Leal) ou 1193, visando incrementar povoamento e a defesa da terra. Este diploma foi confirmado por seu filho e sucessor, D. Afonso II (1211-1223), em Coimbra, a 6 de Novembro de 1217 e, séculos mais tarde, por D. Manuel (1495-1521), ao lhe passar o Foral Novo (Lisboa, 31 de Dezembro de 1513).

A primitiva igreja paroquial de Penacova foi a Capela de Nossa Senhora da Guia, até ser substituída pela nova Igreja Matriz, no século XVI, uma vez que a antiga era de pequenas dimensões e se encontrava em local de difícil acesso. Não há maiores referências acerca da conexão entre esta capela ou mesmo a Igreja do século XVI e o antigo castelo medieval, recordado apenas no brasão de armas da vila.

Castelo de Penacova

The palace was commissioned towards the end of the XVIII century by an obscure supreme court judge (desembargador) named Bernardo Salazar d'Eça e Alarcão. Construction concluded in 1818. A daughter of the judge, Maria da Piedade de Mello Sampaio Salazar was given the title of Viscondessa de Espinhal in 1868. The palace was converted into a hotel in 2005, with the addition of new wings not visible from the street and a pool in the garden. Sometimes called Casa da Viscondessa de Espinhal or Palácio dos Viscondes de Espinhal, it is now mostly known as the Hotel Palácio da Lousã.
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Salazar Palace

The Buçaco Palace is a luxury hotel located in the mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, in the municipality of Mealhada, in central Portugal.
History
The area around the Buçaco Palace was part of a Discalced Carmelite convent established in 1628. The monks of the Convento de Santa Cruz do Buçaco not only built a convent but also created a luxurious garden with many species of trees. The garden was supposed to represent Mount Carmel (where the order was founded) and the Earthly Paradise. Date from the late 17th century a series of chapels with representations of a Via Crucis in the garden. Part of the convent, including the church with Baroque altarpieces, is still preserved beside the palace. At the entrance of the old convent, there is a plaque to the Battle of Bussaco which commemorates the fact that Viscount Wellington, who later became the Duke of Wellington, spent the night in the convent after the battle on 27 September 1810. The Carmelites left Buçaco in 1834 century following the dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal.
Palace Hotel
Late in the century there were plans to turn the ancient convent into a royal residence for Queen Maria Pia, wife of King Luís I. However, difficult political circumstances soon led to the decision to turn the palace into a hotel.
The Palace Hotel of Buçaco was built between 1888 and 1907. The first architect was the Italian Luigi Manini (1848-1936), who designed a Romantic palace in Neo-Manueline style, evoking the 16th-century architectural style that characterised the peak of the Portuguese Age of Discovery. The Buçaco Palace is inspired in iconic Manueline buildings like the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower, both located in Lisbon.
Manini was succeeded by Nicola Bigaglia, José Alexandre Soares and Manuel Joaquim Norte Júnior, the latter responsible for the annex Casa dos Brasões (House of the Coat-of-Arms). The inner rooms are richly decorated with Neo-Manueline portals and stucco work imitating Manueline rib vaulting, being also an important showcase of Portuguese painting and sculpture of the early 20th century. The inner walls are also decorated with tile (azulejo) panels by Jorge Colaço. These panels depict scenes taken from Portuguese literature as well as historical events like the Battle of Bussaco.

Buçaco Palace

Castle of Penela (Portuguese: Castelo de Penela, Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐʃˌtɛɫu dɨ pɨˈnɛɫɐ]) is located in a Penela town in Penela Municipality in Coimbra District, Portugal. The castle was built on a hill dominating the area and used to be a stronghold protecting Coimbra in times of Reconquista. Castle of Penela and the neighboring castle Montemor-o-Velho are both fine examples of defensive structures of that period.

The origins of the name are controversial and are attributed by some authors to ancient Celtic tribes. According to a local legend, King Afonso I (Afonso Henriques) exclaimed to incite his troops storming the stronghold: Coragem! Já estamos com o pé nela! (Courage! We have already set a foot in it!). A more plausible hypothesis is, however, that penela is a diminutive of penha, a place selected to build a fortress on.

History

It is believed that the area was already inhabited before the Roman occupation, and later a Roman watchtower was erected to oversee the nearby road connecting Mérida, Conímbriga and Braga. There is, however, no strong evidence to support this hypothesis, as well as any possible fortifications built here in times of Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.

Medieval castle

Penela's involvement in the Christian Reconquista starts with the conquest of Coimbra region by the troops of Ferdinand I of León (Fernando Magno) in 1064. In the next year the already walled settlement was granted a status of town along with four other nearby villages. The testament of count Sesnando Davides (1087), to whom the king delegated the administration of Conimbricense county, affirms that the count ruled the castle of Penela and the people in the area.

During the successive Muslim offensives in 1116 and 1117 castles Castelo de Miranda do Corvo and Castelo de Santa Eulália were conquered and destroyed, which caused the desertion of castle Castelo de Soure. These castles provided a line of defence for Coimbra region and now castle Penela was threatened. Perhaps this position was also lost, which would explain king Afonso I Henriques assaulting it in 1129, although this version is not supported by any sources. There are documents attributed to the period when a Chart of Foral was granted to the town, which reference a donation of a house inside the castle dated by 1145. This puts in question the assertion that the castle was conquered in 1148, as it is claimed by historian Frei António Brandão (Monarchia Lusitana, 1632), which is also improbable in context of the Conquest of Santarém, and Lisbon since 1147 when the line of Muslim defences was pushed to river Sado.

The castle played an important role in later periods. For instance, Afonso IV of Portugal (1325-1357) was born and died here.

During the 1383–1385 Crisis, the alcaide (commander of the castle) count Viana sided with Castile. Once as he left the castle to seek provisions, he was ambushed at the gates by commoners. As the count fell from the hill he was decapitated by one of the commoners, whom chronicler Fernão Lopes called Caspirre.

Later Pedro duke of Coimbra undertook extensive works in the castle. He ordered a construction of a ducal palace and church São Miguel. Town's gates were rebuilt as well. The town was granted a permission to hold an annual fair (since 1433) on St Michael's Day (September 29).

The castle and town later became a county with Afonso Vasconcelos e Meneses as the 1st count of Penela. Later the ownership of the castle was passed to the House of Aveiro.

From the earthquake of 1755 to the present day

By the 18th century the castle had lost its defensive value. The earthquake of 1755 destroyed the donjon tower (Clock Tower) and one of the gates. To rebuild the tower in 1760 the stone from the third gate of the castle was used. In the same century after the death of José (1750-1777) the ruling family de Aveiro became extinct.

By the beginning of the 20th century the old castle was abandoned and ruined. This was brought to the public opinion and in 1910 the castle was proclaimed a National Monument. Starting in 1940-s the castle underwent a series of restoration works under the supervision of General Direction of the Buildings and National Monuments.

Castle of Penela

The Castle of Lousã (Portuguese: Castelo da Lousã), also known as the Castle of Arouce (Portuguese: Castelo de Arouce), is a classified National Monument situated 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the civil parish of Lousã e Vilarinho, municipality of Lousã. It was constructed in the second-half of the 11th century, on the right margin of the River Arouce.

History

In 1080, count Sisnando Davides occupied the settlement of Lousã peacefully (but was later reoccupied by the Moors). The castle was part of the first defensive lines constructed to protect the access-ways to Coimbra, during the count's stewardship, during the second-half of the 11th century. The smaller perimeter of the military structure corresponded to this early period, with later expansions associated with the early middle ages.

It was in 1124, when the Moorish garrison fell and the castle was re-occupied by the forces of D. Teresa, who completed reparation of the defenses. Eventually, the royal court of Queen D. Mafalda would spend her summers in the settlement and castle.

During the early years of the Portuguese monarchy, the region occupied an important position owing to its frontier status. In 1124, Moorish incursions were responsible for taking the castle. In 1151, a foral was issued by D. Afonso Henriques, owing to its military importance: during the 12th century, there were several raids by Moors across the valley of Zêzere. By that time, Lousã was no longer a frontier town, owing to the conquest of Santarém, Lisbon and Palmela in 1147. During this time, the kingdom had a policy of settlement that attempted to fix and stabilize the Portuguese population centers and promote further occupation of the land.

The keep tower was constructed during the 14th Century.

A new foral was issued in 1513 by King D. Manuel. As its military role ceased to be important, the castle fell into disuse.

Until 1759, the signeurial rights to the region were maintained by the Dukes of Aveiro, but were transferred back to the Crown.

Between the 1940s and 1960s, the DGEMN Direção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (Directorate-General for the Buildings and National Monuments) promoted substantial remodeling to reinforce the structure. Rights to the castle and land were ceded to the municipality on 10 August 1957; on 27 April 2019, the re-qualified castle was inaugurated, later to include a newly constructed viewpoint and visitors' center.

Architecture

The small castle with irregular, hexagonal plan encircles a small courtyard. It is dominated in the north by a keep tower, that is addorsed to the wall, consisting of a rectangular structure with ogival doorway at the level of the chemin de ronde covered in arrowslits. Chamfered merlons terminate the supper part of the structure.

The main entrance is located in the southeast corner and is protected by two semi-cylindrical corbels. An elongated corbel is located to the southwest, while two smaller corbels are situated in the west of the castle, that complete the defensive structures along the walls that are completed with chamfered merlons, similar to those in the keep tower.

Castle of Lousã

History

Germanelo Castle, situated in the crown of a hill, occupies a strategic position in the defence and control of one of the main entrances to the city of Coimbra.

The castle, 367 above sea level, has a wide visual field on the valley of Rabaçal, territory that medieval documents denote by Ladeia. Since the times of the Roman occupation, it was a corridor of natural circulation. Moreover, the old Roman road is still identifiable from Germanelo castle.

After the final conquest of Coimbra, in 1064, it became important to ensure the establishment of a defence system of the city founded in castle structures and Germanelo castle became part of it. In this southern ring of defence, the excessive distance between Penela and Soure castles, erected by D. Sesnando, weakened the defence of Coimbra. The construction of this castle was initiated in 1142. That same year, D. Afonso Henriques granted a charter letter to the Germanelo community in order to attract people to a border area.

The conquest of Santarém in 1147, by D. Afonso Henriques, shifted the Tejo boundary line, removing much of the strategic importance of the Germanelo fortress that had prompted its construction just five years before.

In the XX century, Salvador Dias Arnaut, professor at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra, acquired the castle ruins. It was his initiative to rebuild the line of the wall facing north, crowned by seventeen battlements. This decision was taken after a thorough study of written testimonies still in existance that was associated with geological and archaeological studies.

Archaeological excavations conducted at the site in the 1970s, particularly by José Manuel Bairrão Oleiro, located the old doors, the cistern and residential foundations located on the parade.

Today the municipality of Penela manages Germanelo castle, by following the protocol of the descendants of Prof. Dr. Salvador Dias Arnaut.


Characterization

A small enclosure, roughly triangular shaped with curved lines, Germanelo Castle has a 107 perimeter of 107 metres. The section of N. wall, much restored, presents a culmination of 18 niches. Only ruins survive, from other two sections slightly elevated above ground level. A circular pit and traces of foundations denounce the existence of buildings in the small courtyard of weapons.


https://www.castelosemuralhasdomondego.pt

Castelo de Germanelo

Dominating the valley where the Mondego River runs, with endless rice fields, the town of Montemor-o-Velho is characterized by its imposing castle, the main fortress of Low Mondego during Medieval times.

This extensive land has been successively occupied since Roman times and when the Arabs first settled during the 8th century, the Mondego lands became a constant stage of intense fights between Muslims and Christians.

After the Catholic Reconquista and the Portuguese independence, Montemor-o-Velho and its majestic fortress were the stage of countless events of Portuguese History. The stones of the castle have defended the valley and the river which fertilizes it and have received Kings and Infantas, being closely associated with tales born out of the people’s traditional imagination.

Al-Mansur fortress and the medieval castle

In 911, al-Mansur conquered Montemor-o-Velho and it might have been then that an Islamic fortification with a mosque was built. There is almost nothing left from this ancient space and the castle which now rises upon the Mondego valley is the work of several medieval campaigns. In 1064, after Coimbra was conquered, Montemor-o-Velho was taken over by the Christians and King Alfonso VI of Castile might have rebuilt the defensive structure. During the same period, inside the walls, the Santa Maria da Alcáçova Church was founded and it would be altered many times throughout the following centuries.

Under Afonso Henriques and Sancho I, the structure of the fortress was reinforced because Montemor kept its geo-strategic importance after the Portuguese independence. Infantas Teresa and Mafalda ordered the house inside the castle to be renovated and transformed it into a typical manor house.

The fortress was the centre of many fights throughout the following centuries. King Afonso II didn’t agree with his father’s will which gave the castle to his two sisters, Teresa and Mafalda and it was necessary for the Pope to intervene in order to settle this issue. Later, it would again become the centre of new conflicts, first between Sancho II and Afonso III and then between Prince Afonso and his father, King D. Dinis. Because of its military importance for the Portuguese territory, the regent Prince Peter chose it as his personal palace.

The Destiny of Inês de Castro

Montemor-o-Velho Castle was also the stage of one of the most tragic events in History. It was here that, during the first days of 1355, King Afonso IV and his counsellors met to discuss the danger the marriage between Prince Peter and Inês de Castro would represent to Portuguese politics. She was the daughter of one of the most powerful nobleman of Castile and was living with the heir to the throne since his wife had died in 1345.

The court was not pleased with this connection, especially because Inês’ brothers had great influence over the future King and there was a possibility that the couple’s illegitimate children would one day inherit the throne. Afonso IV was convinced that the relationship between Peter and Inês was an affair of State and that Castro would threaten Portuguese independence… Thus, the fate of Inês was decided and she would be murdered a few days later at Santa Clara Palace in Coimbra, following the King’s order.

Infantas Manor and Tea House

When you visit the castle, you should also enjoy the view of the Mondego rice fields while you drink a cup of tea at the Infantas Manor and Tea House, built on the ruins of the old manor that used to exist inside the fortification. This is a relaxed and modern space with glass walls and a wide terrace perfectly integrated into the walls which will provide you sweet and comforting afternoons.


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Castle of Montemor-o-Velho

Castle is located in the small town of the same name, about twenty kilometers north of the city of Pombal and, unusually, is not built on a hill, like many castles in Portugal, but on a flat terrain on the river bank ... It is believed that the castle was built to protect the monastery, which was located nearby, or the road to the city of Coimbra. Sure Castle is part of a line of defensive structures composed of other castles whose function was to protect Coimbra from enemy attacks.

Presumably the castle was built in the 11th century. However, there is a hypothesis that earlier, back in the 5th-6th centuries, there was a Roman settlement on this place, and the first building was an observation tower. The castle did not last long, and was destroyed during the battle with the Moors. A century later, the place where the castle stood, was donated to Count Fernando Perez de Trava, who was engaged in the restoration of the castle. In the 20th century, the castle was transferred to the city council of the city of Sura. Despite the rather complicated process of paperwork regarding the ownership of the castle, this architectural and historical monument has become the property of the city.

The architecture of the castle combines several styles: medieval Romanesque, Gothic and Manueline style. The facade of the Sure castle is quite simple, and the castle itself is small. At the present time, unfortunately, only ruins remain of the castle, only the walls with four towers located at the corners, a Mozarabian-style window and the Visigoth gate have survived.

Since 1949, Sure Castle has been included in the list of monuments of national importance.

In the 20th century, the castle was transferred to the city council of the city of Sura. Despite the rather complicated process of paperwork regarding the ownership of the castle, this architectural and historical monument has become the property of the city.

The architecture of the castle combines several styles: medieval Romanesque, Gothic and Manueline style. The facade of the Sure castle is quite simple, and the castle itself is small. At the present time, unfortunately, only ruins remain of the castle, only the walls with four towers located at the corners, a Mozarabian-style window and the Visigoth gate have survived.

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