Castelo de Palmela

Palmela Castle sits on a high hill between Lisbon and Setúbal, and from its walls you can see a huge stretch of the country: the Arrábida hills, Setúbal and the Sado estuary, the long sandy Tróia peninsula, the Tagus and the Lisbon coast. That view explains its history. Whoever held this hill could watch both the sea and the land.

Muslim rulers held it from the 8th to the 12th century. D. Afonso Henriques, Portugal’s first king, took it in 1147, and D. Sancho I won it back for good. From 1443 until 1834 it was the headquarters of the Order of Santiago, a military order whose members lived as friars in peacetime and fought as knights in war. Their symbol, a red cross shaped like a sword, is carved over the doorway of the ruined church inside the walls. It has been a National Monument since 1910.

For children, the best part is that the castle is still busy. Inside the walls there’s a church, the municipal museum’s castle rooms, a ruined church, a hotel, a tourist office, craft shops and a restaurant with a terrace on the old parade ground.

The keep, or Torre de Menagem, was probably built in the reign of King Dinis in the 14th century. Its height made it the lookout post for the whole region, and it comes with two stories children remember.

The first is about fire. In 1384, Castilian troops were besieging Lisbon, where D. João I was trapped. The commander Nuno Álvares Pereira arrived at Palmela from the Alentejo and ordered huge signal fires, called almenaras, to be lit on the castle so that Lisbon, across the river, would know help was near. A small exhibition inside the keep tells the story.

The second is darker. In 1484, the Bishop of Évora, D. Garcia de Meneses, was locked up in the keep for plotting against King João II, and he died there.

If your children like the fire story, the tourist board has a one-day route called the Roteiro Almenara that follows the signal from Palmela castle across the Tagus to the Castelo de São Jorge in Lisbon. You can download it from the tourism website.

In 1885 the army installed a heliograph at Palmela, a device that sends messages over long distances by flashing sunlight off a mirror. Military telegraphy stayed based here for more than a hundred years, in a building known as the Casa dos Radiotelegrafistas, the radio operators’ house. It now holds the Espaço de Transmissões Militares, an exhibition about how armies sent messages, from the Islamic period to Portugal’s colonial war in Africa.

It’s a small space, but it fits the castle’s story neatly: this hilltop has been used for signalling for more than 600 years, from bonfires to radio. Children who like gadgets and codes get more out of it than they might expect.

Around the Praça de Armas, the parade ground where troops drilled and where, as the tourist board puts it, children once played while people worked, you’ll find:

• The archaeological galleries of the municipal museum, with objects from the long Muslim period up to the late 12th century: pottery, oil lamps, things for games and leisure, craft tools, iron and bronze pieces, and objects carved from bone.
• The ruins of the Igreja de Santa Maria, Palmela’s first parish church, from the 12th century and thought to have been built over a mosque. The 1755 earthquake left it roofless. Look for the Gothic doorway found during 20th-century repairs, a Renaissance doorway carved with the Order’s sword-cross, 17th-century tiles and old gravestones from the cemetery that was once here.
• The Igreja de Santiago, the knights’ own church, built in the late 15th century and very plain inside. It holds a stone chest thought to contain the remains of D. Jorge, the last Master of the Order, and tiles from the 17th and 18th centuries. From the church you can reach a clock made in Liège in 1752, on the way to a visitable store of sculpture (the Reserva Visitável S. Tiago), which you book in advance.

Ask at the tourist office for the Guia do Viajante, or download it before you go. It’s a family booklet of riddles, games and drawings that turns the visit into a trail. For younger children it gives the castle a structure.

You can walk into the castle grounds freely. The tourist office inside the walls opens every day from 09:30 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 17:30, except on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December, and it’s accessible for visitors with reduced mobility. Neither it nor the municipal museum lists an admission charge.

The museum’s castle spaces keep their own hours, Tuesday to Sunday. From the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October they open 10:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:00, and in winter until 17:00. They close on Mondays and national holidays, and may close in bad weather. The Igreja de Santiago opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 20:00 in summer and 10:00 to 18:00 in winter. So if you want to see inside, avoid Mondays.

Guided visits can be booked through the tourist office on (+351) 212 332 122 or turismo@cm-palmela.pt. The council’s agenda also lists guided walks of the old town and castle on set dates, so ask what’s coming up.

Castle walls mean drops, uneven stone and steps, so keep hold of small children on the ramparts. The hilltop is exposed, so bring a hat on a sunny day and a layer on a windy one. Toddlers can enjoy the open parade ground, but the walls are for holding hands.

For food, Taverna o Bobo da Corte has a terrace on the Praça de Armas, and the Pousada Histórica de Palmela is inside the walls. The craft shops sell tiles and ceramics, which can be a nice small souvenir.

Palmela’s harvest festival, the Festa das Vindimas, fills the town each September; see What’s on for the usual dates. On a hot day, the Palmela municipal pool is in the town centre. Azeitão is a short drive away, with the free Bacalhôa park and playground and a hands-on cooking studio for children. From Setúbal, a dolphin-watching trip on the Sado looks for the same estuary you can see from the castle walls.

Do you have to pay to visit Palmela Castle?

You can walk into the castle grounds without a ticket. The tourist office and municipal museum pages list no admission charge, but check at the tourist office if you plan to see the museum spaces.

Can toddlers enjoy Palmela Castle?

The open parade ground and views work well, but the walls have drops and uneven steps. Hold hands on the ramparts, and bring a carrier rather than relying on a buggy on the old stone.

When are the museum rooms open?

Tuesday to Sunday, with a lunch break from 12:30 to 14:00. They close on Mondays and national holidays.

Is there somewhere to eat?

Yes. There’s a restaurant with a terrace on the parade ground, and the Pousada Histórica de Palmela is inside the walls.

How long do you need?

About an hour to walk the walls, keep and parade ground. Add time for the museum spaces, the church and the family trail.