Afonso Henriques attacked repeatedly and evenutally took the fortress-castle of Alcácer do Sal in 1158. Some thrity years later, in response to the renewed attacks of the famed Muslim visir Almanzor, Sancho I, Afonso Henriques’s son, retreated from the stronghold. Its final conquest by a Chrsitian army was in 1217, under the combined assualt of the armies of Afonso II and the Fifth Crusade. The Crusaders sailed up the River Sado while the Portuguese troops arrived by land.
The Castle still stands today and houses an archeaological museum as well as a four-star hotel, one of many ‘pousadas,’ or hotels located in sites of historical significance and owned by the Portuguese government.
Also of historical significance is the Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo. The church was founded in the thirteenth century by the Knights of Santiago after the conquest of the Castle by Alfonso II. It is a fine example of a late Romanesque temple, on which site previously stood a Romane temple and subsequently a Muslim mosque.
