Guimarães Castle, located in Monte Largo.
Mumadona, Galician countess, had a castle built in this place, around the year 968, where the population could take refuge from the constant assaults of hordes of Vikings, coming from the seas of northern Europe and from Muslims who flocked from the territories they occupied to the south.
When Count Henrique received from his father-in-law, Afonso VI, the government of the Portucalense province, he ordered the construction of another larger and more solid building, which constituted the beginning of the important defensive complex that we see today, dominated by the keep. Although the fact is not documented, it is likely that the building that is leaning against the inner part of the north wall was the home of Count D. Henrique and the birthplace of his son Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king.
The military history of the foundation of the kingdom is linked to the castle in the various combats in which Afonso Henriques faced in 1127 his cousin Afonso VII, king of Leão. of the infant's word when he, seeing that he was unable to overcome the siege of Afonso VII, promised to become his vassal, having reneged on the promise on winning.
Until the end of the 14th century in the castle of Guimarães there were heroic battles to defend the integrity of the young kingdom of Portugal, shaken by dynastic issues with Castile that made its independence vulnerable. With the birth of the new artillery weapons, the castle of Guimarães, like so many others, experienced the beginning of the end of its glories.
Afonso Henriques (Afonso I of Portugal) was the first king of Portugal. Called “The Conqueror”, he reigned 42 years, from 1143 to 1185, and left a nation as a legacy.
