Description of the attraction
Saint Philip's Castle stands on a hilltop in the upper part of Setubal. The construction of the castle began in 1582, during the era of Spanish rule in Portugal - during the reign of King Philip I, who personally oversaw the work of the castle. The plan for this building was developed by Italian architects - Filippo Terzii, and then - Leonardo Torriani, who was also a famous military engineer and court architect of King Philip I.
Saint Philip's Castle is built in the shape of a star. During the reign of King João IV of Portugal, in the 17th century, new construction work was carried out in the castle: the outer wall was completed, the boundaries of the castle itself were expanded. This fortification of the castle was supposed to compensate for the lack of artillery, as well as to protect the port of Setubal from enemy invasions.
In the 18th century, the walls of the chapel, which was inside the fortress, were decorated with azulesos tiles, painted by Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardés, a famous Portuguese tiled paintings maker.
Like many other structures in the country, the castle suffered from the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. A little later there was an artillery school here. At the beginning of the twentieth century, restoration work was carried out in the castle and the fortress was included in the list of national monuments of Portugal. In 1969, during an earthquake, the castle was damaged again; its reconstruction took a long time.
Today, there is a five-star hotel inside the castle, which offers stunning views of the Sada River and the city of Setubal itself.
