the towers and walls, followed by successive years of work on other portions of the wall fortifications: in 1964, along the north wall; between 1968 and 1970, consolidation of the walls; and 1971, repairs to the dungeon. Also, the church was reconstructed in 1972, but reworked in 1977, in addition to the recuperation of the area near the former-convent. Archaeological excavations by Jorge Pinho Monteiro were executed in 1981. On 8 March 2002, a public tender was announced in the Diário da República (issue 57), for the adjudication contract to improve the castle landscape. This move resulted in further classification attempts, such as the 2005 proposal to classify the modern fortification, by the local authority. This was complimented on 31 January 2006, by the opening of a process by IPPAR/DRÉvora on 11 January. A special protection zone for each of the walls was established on 30 November 2010 by the DRCAlentejo. These proposals were prorogued on 30 December 2010, following discoveries onsite. In 2011, archaeological excavations realized during construction of the tourist reception buildings discovered funerary tombs from the Roman period (specifically the 1st century), as well as the some buildings. Architecture The castle is erected on an elevated hilltop in the northeastern edge of the town, approximately above sea level, at the confluence of the Rio Ardila, the ravines of Brenhas and Lavandeira. Within the barbican is the Dominican convent, near the entrance to the dungeon, with its church oriented to the principal facade. The castle consists of an oval plan, maximum dimensions, occupying the alcazaba in the southwest. It is separate from the rest of the spaces by a line walls, reinforced in the middle by a rectangular keep tower, flanked by a minor tower and by a semi-circular corbel along the wall to the north. The keep tower and circular corbel of the alcazaba includes prismatic merlons with pyramids. Meanwhile, the keep tower has a vaulted first floor ceiling with ribbed ogival, supported by 8 slender columns, known as the Sala dos Alcaides (Alcalde's room). It is crossed by a corridor connected that connects it to the Chemin de ronde and the terrace. On the wall to the alcazaba are vestiges of square towers. Along the circus are still part segments of the walls of the northern barbican, trapezoidal tower, a clock-tower and two circular towers with rear chamfers: the tower of Selúquia (in the northeast) clocktower