Just from Portalegre, the castle of Alegrete is one of the more important fortress in the Alto Alentejo, assuming since the Middle Age, a fundamental position in regional defense. Most of the references to its origins are obscure. The first documents suggest it dated from the 13th century, during the reign of King D.
Afonso III, when the fortifications were either constructed or reconstructed. On 16 February 1267, the settlement was effectively incorporated into the possessions of the Portuguese Crown, in the
Treaty of Badajoz, celebrated between King D.
Afonso III and his father-in-law King D.
Alfonso X of Castile. The reconstruction of the fortifications are attributed to the
foral (
charter) of King D.
Dinis in 1319. Most of the building on the site occurred between the 13th and 14th century, but likely began immediately after the accord at Badajoz. The perimeter of the fortification was quite irregular, and did not adopt the oval plan generally used during the Portuguese Gothic period. The keep tower was erected alongside the eastern walls and located near a cistern, that supported the community within the walls and military garrison. The main gateway was in the south (today concealed) and crowned by small tower with
machicolations towards the interior. Complementing the military garrison was a curtain of walls connected to the castle. In the following centuries, Alegrete took on an important role in the wars with
Castile. On 8 April 1384, D.
Nuno Alvares Pereira visited Alegrete as part of his defense of Portugal. A new foral was issued on 14 February 1516 by King D.
Manuel I. The transition between medieval warfare and pyroballistic warfare determined the slow decline of the castle. Meanwhile, though, the dynastic crisis resulting from the death of King
Sebastian at Alcácer Quibir, revitalized the importance of the medieval castle, owing to its frontier position along the Spanish border. Under the influence of the Marquess of Marialva, the walls were repaired and updated, during a rapid reconstruction process. The work resulted in a fortress with bastions, but little today remains to identify its limits. At the end of the 17th century, King D.
John IV compensated General Matias de Albuquerque by making him the
Count of Alegrete, and putting the castle on the first line of defense during the
Portuguese Restoration War. By 1662, the garrison of Alegrete was composed of two infantry companies, under the command of La Costé. As legend suggests, the Governor dissuaded
John of Austria (whose forces had encircled the settlement) from attacking, offering him two bottles of wine and suggesting that the Portuguese garrison would resist until the last of the wine produced in Alegrete. Work on the walls were carried out by Luís Serrão Pimentel following their damage. On 12 July 1664, there is record of repairs and rehabilitation of the fortifications under the direction of the
Marquess of Marialva. On 19 August 1687, the
Marquess of Alegrete was instituted, in the name of its first Marquess, D. Manuel Teles da Silva. In 1704, Portuguese forces situated in Alegrete resisted the siege by
Philip V of Spain. During the course of the
War of the Oranges at the beginning of the
Peninsular Wars, forces stationed in Alegrete resisted Spanish bombardment in 1801. But, the castle was already irreversibly in decline. Within twenty years, the conflict between Absolutists and Liberals erupted within Portugal, leading to combat within the castle's proximity, between troops of the
Count of Vila Flor and royalist forces. As part of political reforms the municipality and magisterial courts in Alegrete were extinguished on 26 June 1855. ==Architecture==