The Stoneworks at Chateau des Maures
The Chateau des Maures, also known as the Castle of the Moors, in the Extremadura, is situated in the town of Sintra, in the parish (Freguesia) of São Pedro de Penaferrim, in the council Sintra district in Lisbon, in Portugal. It is now classified as a National Monument, part of the Sintra Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The castle is an irregularly planned military outpost that follows a 450 metre perimeter on top of a mountainous cliff, oriented southwest to northwest. It consists of a double line of military walls that meanders over the granite terrain of the promontory. Its place on the hilltop, surrounded by and including the natural and exotic vegetation, accentuates the Romantic character of the place.
The outer walls open near Abelheira (west of Tapada dos Bichos), from a main access door, where several paths wind around the hilltop of the castle. A second ring of walls reinforces the castle with both circular and square turrets, thick wall battlements and railings, and crowned with pyramid-shaped merlons. At this second wall is the main entrance to the castle, protected by two turrets and battlements.