The castle of Arab origin, rebuilt in the century. XIII, it had a large walled perimeter, part of which is still visible.

Facing Rua da Barbacã stands out an albarrã tower, made of masonry, dating from the Low Middle Ages. Another of the visible towers is the so-called Torre de Vela, also an albarrã tower, made of mud, located in the old Rua da Corredoura, currently Rua Engenheiro Duarte Pacheco, and next to this one stands out the Porta de Faro, which still retains traces of the primitive Almohad construction. In the southern suburb, or Mouraria, just outside the Porta de Faro, after the reconquest, an area was allocated to the Moorish ceilings that received a charter from D. Afonso III, in 1269. It was in these streets that the handicraft facilities would be located, to be verified by place-names that used to exist or still exist today.

There are no traces of the primitive alcáçova, however it is assumed that it would be located in the same place where today the mayor’s house that houses various cultural spaces (Municipal Museum; Traditional Cuisine; Documentation Center with hemeroteca, photo library, bibliography and varied studies on the local and regional history, personalities, events and others).

The Almohad rammed earth walls, built, or at least, reinforced in the 12th century, are visible throughout the city, which are visible in small sections, camouflaged by houses that were being built adjacent to it, and other wall cloths that were being discovered in recent interventions carried out by the municipality.