Game Boards

Did you know that in the Romantic Garden at the Castelo de São Jorge there are benches with board games carved in?
In some corners, small football pitches are engraved in the stone, the stage for imaginary games played with bottle tops, where championships and memorable goals were invented in the imagination of visitors. As you walk through the garden, try to discover where they are located.

Carved into the stone benches, these eight game boards form the largest known group of their kind in Lisbon. Five are boards for alquerque of twelve, an ancient strategy game that was especially popular during the Middle Ages. The other three depict miniature football pitches, engraved in the 20th century for games similar to Subbuteo, showing that, for centuries, this has been a place not only of defence, but also of meeting, leisure and play.