"Abrantes - Town and Fortress" Abrantes by gubbi1

On my way from Tomar to the very portuguese east I have passed Abrantes and stopped here to have a walk through town and to see the fortress.
As closer you get to the east of Portugal as more fortresses you will see. These are remains from the times that portuguese territory had to be protected against spanish troops. Nowadays these fortresses give a lot of charm to the towns and it is a pleasure to travel along the border region.

The fortress in Abrantes was built for D. Afonso Henriques and the first documented reference for it dates back to 1173.

Coming to Abrantes I have parked much below the town center and walk high up into the center and the fortress. You might as well drive up to the parking at the fortress and spare some energy.

The photo shows the cities church. It looks a little funny on the photo as it is hard to take a good photo dueto its size and the limited space in front. So I took two photos and built a panorama, which now looks a little distorted :-) In real life the walls are straight :-)))

Fortress, Abrantes, PT

From the church you can see the walls of the fortress. It is not far from here.

Flag in fortress, Abrantes, PT

On the powder tower (you can climb it) there is a portuguese flag. It is becoming a custom for me to take at least one photo of the countries flag...