Almeida, Portugal the current name was first used, in the form of the Arabic "al-Ma'ida" ('the plateau'). The village of Almeida was captured from the Moors by the second king of Portugal, Sancho I in the 12th century because of its strategic position on the new country of Portugal's border with Spain. So important to the security of the country, Sancho had the village heavily fortified. The castle was refortified on three further occasions by King Dinis, King Manuel I and by King João VI. The present 12 pointed star fortification was constructed in 1641 to a Vaubanesque plan on which the
Castles in Portugal towers. By 1249 the Moors had been expelled from southern Portugal and the nation became the first in Europe to take on its modern borders. The focus of Portuguese castles during this period shifted from lines along east to west flowing rivers, to the towns along the long Portuguese border with rival Castile. The pinnacles of this period were the 13th-century castles built under King Denis, who rebuilt almost every major castle in the land. Until Denis, Portugal’s castles were usually just a three-story keep with one or two rings of walls. New tower keeps were built like the one