Descobrir Portugal: Castelo de Guimarães

“The Guimarães Castle is widely recognized as the closest one to the origins of Portugal and it presents a surprising infrastructure on many levels. First of all due to its origins, which are singularly unclear. It is safe to say that we are dealing with a count’s edifice, the fruit of the charismatic Countess of Portucale Mumadona. As the castle is not mentioned in a detailed document, dated of 950, that divided goods between the Countess and her children, we can conclude that, at that time, it did not yet exist. But by the end of that year, the castle is mentioned in a donation to the Guimarães Monastery. Hence it is recognized as of count’s foundation in the second half of the 10th century. Countess Mumadona herself declared, in a parchment dated of 968, that she had the castle built in order to protect the previously mentioned Monastery against “Gentile” attacks (referring probably to the Normans).” (source)