Castle of the Moors in Sintra is the place where you can explore the sight of Sintra. The castle itself is not that breathtaking but the views are. This is the place to be if you want to be amazed and see Sintra and all of the nice castles that are placed here.

Castle of the Moors – walk from Pena Palace

Most of the people that come to Sintra start their day by visiting the Pena Palace. From there you only have about a ten-minute walk to the castle of the Moors. The walk over there is quite easy but you are walking on cobblestones and the terrain is sometimes pretty uneven. This is nature at its best. You walk in an amazing environment and it is a really nice stroll.

The Moorish fortress was built around the 10:th century by the Muslim occupiers of the Iberian sea. It was used as a watchtower and an observation post. That sounds pretty logic when you see the views from the top of the castle.

The rich people went to Sintra

According to a person we met in Lisbon, we got the information that all the rich people would move to Sintra during the summer. This was because the weather in Lisbon was to hot and Sintra is placed a lot higher up. And we believe this fact to be true because the castles in Sintra are amazing.

The castle of the Moors is not one of the nicest of castles here, but it is still well worth the visit. It is more ruins than a castle. At one spot you can see how they used to bury people. The skeletons there are not real but they show you the burial grounds during those days.

A tough walk to the top

The whole area of the Moorish castle is huge. You could spend hours, just walking around. But if you want to hit the top – prepare yourself for a workout. I was on the phone with my mom during our walk and after a while, my mom told me to stop. She was afraid of my health because I was panting that much. But we felt that we were in a hurry. If you take it easy, we are sure that you will make it!

I know that there is no link between the Castle of the Moors and the great wall of China. However, when you look at the view from the top – my thoughts went straight to the great wall. And as always when I am visiting old places, my mind wanders to my imagination and I start to imagine who walked here and what happened here thousands of years ago. Make sure that you have enough time to visit here because you don’t want to be in a hurry.

Information about Castle of the Moors

Address: Estrada da Pena, Parque de Monserrate, Sintra.
Opening hours: Daily 09.30 – 20.00.
Entrance fee: 8 Euros per person (2018).
Best time to visit: Anytime. This is a huge place so there is a lot of room.