Here Christian kings and Moors once lived, whilst Romans and Visigoths spent time here too. And today hundreds of visitors to Lisboa come to explore it.

But since Man's passage here is temporary whilst the stones remain, the walls of this castle are the eternal guardians of its memories - a place that has become a city, a bustling metropolis and one of the most fascinating destinations to discover, made of memories and history with the Castle as its witness.

Thus if the stones of São Jorge Castle could speak, they would have many fascinating centuries and events to tell us about. They would say that, according to historical accounts, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the beautiful Felicitas Julia, name given by Caius Julius Caesar to Lisboa, this site became the domain of the Swabians followed by the Visigoths. After the latter's defeat at the hands of the Moors, it became known as Al - Ushbuna or Lissabona. It is from this period that we learn about a fortification that preceeded the Castle, whose walls defended the " quasabah " ( fortress ), the centre of the city's political and military power protected at a later date by the so called "Cerca Moura" (Moorish Fortress).

With the arrival of the Christian Crusades, this Muslim fortification became a medieval castle, with the capture of Lisboa in 1147 after a hard fought three month siege by the troops of King Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. A legend that arose later claims that during the siege a knight called Martim Moniz, realizing one of the castle gates was half open, sacrificed his own life by placing his body in between to prevent its closure by the Moors thus allowing access and the conquest of the city. As a reward, the Castle, now Christian, was placed under the invocation of the martyr St. George, whom many crusaders prayed to, thus baptizing it with the name by which it is known today.

But it was from the 13th century, when Lisboa became the capital of the Kingdom (1255 ), that the Castle enjoyed its heyday. In addition to housing the Royal Palace, it was a palace for bishops, home for nobles of the Court and a military fortification. It was also the place that welcomed Vasco da Gama, after the discovery of the sea route to India in the late 15th century, and venue in the 16th century for "Monologo do Vaqueiro" by Gil Vicente, the first Portuguese drama.

With the Discoveries and the city's natural development, the king and his court moved to Ribeira Palace, with the Castle acting as a military barracks and later as a prison. All these changes in the Castle's history and, inevitably, with the earthquake of 1755, have contributed to its degradation. But it was only in the 20th century that its true importance was finally recognized, being classified as a National Monument in 1910. During the 1940's and 1990's the Castle underwent restoration works that helped recover its medieval architectural style.

Situated on one of the city's highest hills, the Castle is a ubiquitous image of the Lisboa's landscape. With its proud and imposing walls, the Castle is the silent guardian of the capital's memories. Here visitors can discover the city's atmosphere from bygone eras, wandering in its gardens and viewpoints, along the "Praça de Armas" with its statue of Afonso Henriques, as well as its keep and citadel. All this and much more make the Castle one of Lisboa's most iconic and visited monuments which now enjoys easy access by elevator, with entry via Rua dos Fanqueiros and Rua da Madalena, in the Baixa downtown area.