Castle of Mau Vizinho

Portugal, Portugal

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Castle of Mau Vizinho, also called Castle of the Moors, is a medieval archaeological site in the rural parish of Cimo de Vila da Castanheira, Chaves municipality, Vila Real district, northern Portugal, perched on an isolated schist rock outcrop at 562 meters overlooking the Mousse River valley.

Discovered in the late 1960s by archaeologist António da Eira e Costa, excavations from 1981-1989 uncovered medieval pottery shards, a clay cossoiro vessel, and schist walls mortared with clay around a central 184 m² enclosure possibly for a turret atop cut rock platforms, with external rock cavities and redoubts for defense.

Debated as either a pre-Roman sanctuary or Iron Age fort reused in the Middle Ages, it holds Property of Public Interest status since 1986, accessed via rock-hewn steps amid oak woods.