The castle is the oldest defensive structure in Elvas, built on Moorish foundations after the town was retaken in 1230 and substantially rebuilt by King Dinis at the end of the thirteenth century. It sits at the highest point of the old town, behind the bishop's palace, and the keep gives the single best view over the rooftops to the Spanish border.
Entry is cheap and the visit is short — half an hour to walk the curtain wall and climb the tower. The interior rooms are mostly bare stone now, but the small exhibition on the ground floor covers the castle's role in the Portuguese Restoration War, when Elvas was the keystone of the country's eastern defence.