Formidable defences in the form of a 12-pointed star guard this small,
delightfully preserved border town.

Almeida was recognized by Spain as Portuguese territory under the Alcañices
Treaty on 12 September 1297, but this did not stop further incursions. The
present Vauban-style stronghold (see The fortifications of Elvas) was designed in 1641 by Antoine Deville
after Spain’s Philip IV, in post-Restoration rage, destroyed the earlier
defences protecting the town and its medieval castle.

From 1742 to 1743 Almeida was in Spanish hands again, and then during the
Peninsular War was held in turn by the French under Masséna and the British
under the Duke of Wellington. In 1810, a French shell lit a powder trail that
destroyed the castle.

To breach the town’s fortifications today, it is necessary to cross a bridge and
pass through a tunnel. The underground casamatas , soldiers’
barracks, can be visited and an armoury in the main gateway, the Portas de São
Francisco, holds further mementoes of Almeida’s military past. In the town
itself are a 17th-century parish church and a Misericórdia 
church of a similar age, attached to one of Portugal’s oldest almshouses. A walk
around the grassy walls gives rewarding views of the town.