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THE WEIRDEST OF PORTUGAL'S CASTLES
The fortification as a whole is a unique piece of military architecture in Portugal.
Lusitânia, história e militaria
Eduardo Amarante ·
·
It is located in Évoramonte, Alentejo, and is one of the most unusual castles in Portugal.
Contrasting with the interpretation of the apparent fragility of the thickness of the walls, due to their extension, five immense bastions of Italian design, with a cylindrical layout, stand out, placed in great conformity with the new theories of defense with artillery, which were being developed in South, especially in Northern Italy.
The five bastions were designed to longitudinally beat the extensive walls that they provided. From the lower casemates, fire was fired over the nearby terrain, compared to the upper platforms intended to reach long distances with artillery.
The structure of these fascinating elements of the modern fortification was prepared to absorb the impact of the attacking artillery. The drum walls are enormously thick. The outer layers of stone hide an inner rammed earth core that acted as a shock-absorbing layer when the outer shell began to collapse.
The Fortified Palace, also of Italian design, is one of the jewels of Renaissance military architecture in Portugal. Four half circular turrets are attached to a square central plan.
Gunboats and shooting holes are conveniently positioned, expressing a military function that is reinforced by the allegorical decorative elements that integrate the thick columns that support the central core of the set.
Two drawbridges symbolically protected the entrances for cars and people. This Renaissance symbol is very visible on the outside of the immense building by the strings that mark the floors and that intertwine in the middle of the four sides."
THE WEIRDEST OF PORTUGAL'S CASTLES
The fortification as a whole is a unique piece of military architecture in Portugal.
Lusitânia, história e militaria
Eduardo Amarante ·
·
It is located in Évoramonte, Alentejo, and is one of the most unusual castles in Portugal.
Contrasting with the interpretation of the apparent fragility of the thickness of the walls, due to their extension, five immense bastions of Italian design, with a cylindrical layout, stand out, placed in great conformity with the new theories of defense with artillery, which were being developed in South, especially in Northern Italy.
The five bastions were designed to longitudinally beat the extensive walls that they provided. From the lower casemates, fire was fired over the nearby terrain, compared to the upper platforms intended to reach long distances with artillery.
The structure of these fascinating elements of the modern fortification was prepared to absorb the impact of the attacking artillery. The drum walls are enormously thick. The outer layers of stone hide an inner rammed earth core that acted as a shock-absorbing layer when the outer shell began to collapse.
The Fortified Palace, also of Italian design, is one of the jewels of Renaissance military architecture in Portugal. Four half circular turrets are attached to a square central plan.
Gunboats and shooting holes are conveniently positioned, expressing a military function that is reinforced by the allegorical decorative elements that integrate the thick columns that support the central core of the set.
Two drawbridges symbolically protected the entrances for cars and people. This Renaissance symbol is very visible on the outside of the immense building by the strings that mark the floors and that intertwine in the middle of the four sides."
