Key spots worth your time — with practical info to plan fast.
Twelve-pointed bastion fortress built between 1641 and 1700 to defend the border with Spain, one of the best-preserved star forts in Europe. The whole town fits inside the walls, walkable on the ramparts, with the original gates, ravelins and dry moats intact.
Verified: 2026-04-06
Set inside the casemates of the star fort, this military museum explains the bastion-system, the 1810 Siege of Almeida and the Peninsular War. Mostly underground, well-organised, and the only way to read the fortress correctly before walking it above ground.
Verified: 2026-04-06
The medieval castle that pre-existed the star fort. In August 1810, during the French siege, a British shell ignited the powder magazine inside the keep — the explosion killed an estimated 500 people, demolished the castle and forced the garrison to surrender. The ruined remains are visitable.
Verified: 2026-04-06
