Five-cornered castle on the Côa: Sabugal

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Sabugal stands on the River Côa, in the Alto Côa region. At the end of the 12th century, when these lands belonged to the Kingdom of León, Alfonso IX of León founded the town and gave it a charter. The lands on the right bank of the Côa were taken into Portugal in 1296, after a military campaign by King Dinis, and the dispute was settled by the Treaty of Alcañices with Ferdinand IV of León and Castile in 1297. Dinis had the Castle of Cinco Quinas strengthened with an imposing keep on a regular pentagonal plan. Castile took the castles of the region during the wars of the late 14th century, and Sabugal was one of the last to be returned, in 1393. Manuel I gave the town a new charter in 1515 and improved the castle, as the coat of arms flanked by armillary spheres still shows. Part of the Leonese wall that surrounded the medieval town survives, along with its only remaining gate. It was said that Dinis built the castle, the bridge and the fountain: the bridge still crosses the Côa below the castle, though one of its arches was destroyed by the river in 1908 and rebuilt, and the new fountain in the Largo da Fonte dates from 1904. In the Misericórdia church, a stone set into the side wall marks the medieval measure of the côvado. The Museu do Sabugal has a long-term exhibition on the history of the municipality, with a replica of the old pillory in the square in front. According to the council, the last battle of the French invasions on Portuguese soil was fought near the city, at Gravato. In August, some villages of the municipality near the Spanish border hold the Capeia Arraiana alongside their patron saint festivities, a bullfighting tradition in which the bull is fought collectively with the forcão, usually in the main village square.

The craft beer scene in Sabugal is still waiting to be discovered, with no craft breweries or craft beer bars listed here yet. For now, look at nearby places in the wider region, and check back as the map grows.