2017Europa (Portugal) - First Day Cover

Nine circular towers protect the high walls of Almourol Castle, one of the most notable medieval military monuments from the time of the Reconquista, built on the granite escarpment of a small island in the district of Santarém, today lending the surrounding landscape a scenic charm. The castle is known to exist as early as 1129, under the name Almorolan. However, the epigraph above the main doorway bears the inscription of the year 1171, referring to its rebuilding by the Order of the Knights Templar. The keep as the centre of the whole structure and the quadrangular arrangement of the spaces are features of Templar architecture in Portugal.