Berber forces built Moorish fortifications, including the Cerca Moura, in the 10th century, and the oldest fortifications date to the 1st century BC in the body and the 2nd century BC in the lead. King Denis renovated the royal palace around 1300. Ferdinand I ordered the Cerca Fernandina, built in two years from 1373 to 1375 by master builders João Fernandes and Vasco Brás.
That wall has 77 towers, 34 or 38 gates and a perimeter of 17,700 feet (5,400 m). The castle itself has ten towers and a courtyard divided by a wall. The 1755 earthquake severely damaged it, and the 17th-century fortifications were built from 1648 to 1733 to plans by Mateus do Couto.
Renovations for the 1940 commemorations demolished most later additions, and a monument to Afonso Henriques was installed in 1947. Visitors can walk the walls and towers, entering through an 1846 gate reached by a stone bridge over the moat.
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