Pousada de Setúbal - São Filipe

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São Filipe's historical Pousada is installed in a fort from the late XVII century built by King Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal). This historic luxury hotel has a breathtaking view over the River Sado estuary from its terrace.

Beside the terrace, Pousada de Setúbal, Sâo Filipe, counts with several other attractions, such us a bar, a living room for social encounters, a small gambling room and a dining room.
Regarding the city of Setúbal, it is one of Portugal's main ports, also offers beautiful walks within the historic centre and surroundings, such as Sado river beaches or the Arrábida montain range.
Rooms
The Pousada has 16 rooms: 1 Suite with sea view, 7 others also with sea view, 5 Located in the former cells and 3 with view to the castle.

The Rooms are equipped with:
• AC
• Cable TV
• Mini-bar
• Hair Drier
• 220 volts voltage
• Safe
• Bathing gowns
• Phone
• Landscape surroundings.
Activities
Activities at the Pousada:
• Family games and snooker
Activities outside the Pousada:
• Water sports
• Golf Course
• Paintball
• Four-wheel driving
• Hot air ballooning
• Boat trips
• Canoeing
• Diving
• Fishing
• Hunting
• Country walks
• Four-wheel driving
Gastronomy
Specialty Restaurant Menu
• Fish soup
• Monkfish and seafood stew
• Grilled lamb with orange sauce
• Orange pie
Interesting Places:
• Jesus Convent (Jesus Church 15th Century and Museum)
• Cathedral - Santa Maria da Graça Church (16th Century)
• Archaeology and Ethnography Museum
• Azeitão
• Espichel Cape
• Arrábida mountain range
• Sesimbra
• River Sado estuary
• Tróia - Roman ruins and beaches
• Portinho da Arrábida

Fairs and Markets:
• Popular Saints (Setúbal)
• Tróia Cinema Festival (Setúbal)
• Capuchos Musical Festival
• Our Lady of Tróia Pilgrimage (Setúbal)

Pousada History:
São Filipe's historical Pousada was installed at the fort with the same name, and built in the late XVI century. It rises in a beautiful recess of the river Sado, in its mouth, between the port of Setúbal and the narrow peninsula of Tróia. To this inn we arrive through a passage that crosses the thick walls of the fort, allowing to travel the totality of the rampart and to appreciate the neighbor's panoramic Saws of Arrábida, of the estuary of Sado and the Atlantic. A construction of the fort it is due to Filipe I from Portugal and II of Spain.
The beginning of the works date of 1582 and it had as purpose to defend the setubalense´s borough, through the control of the bar’s entrance where the fort of Outão, with origin in the century XIV, represented the main piece.
The plan of the construction works were trusted at once to Filipe Terzi, an Italian architect. Following the beginnings of the military architecture of that time, where the artillery had an increasingly important role in the war arts, the Fort of S. Filipe presents a starry form, of six points in that the walls form some very sharpened vertexes.
This defence line is surrounded by a ditch. On the side turned to land arises a second wall, external to the first and the ditch. Another defence work, in rectangular form, long and with bulwarks, enlarge upon to the sea. This was for sure to veil an important technical deficiency, the lack of effectiveness to reach the ships that passed over by the river.
The entrance for the Pousada is made by a discreet door, strategically opened in a reserved corner in the base of the fortress. The national shield with its five edges sculpted in the stone, representing our crusades, it is the only ornamental element of the castle porch. Although there are no signs of a ditch with water outlining the construction, recognized in the wall are the lines of a previous existence of a movable bridge.
The ramp of 40 worn-out steps, inside of a high and arched tunnel, gives access to the Pousada. In the middle of the flight of stairs stands a room that now is used as a meeting room. Four hundred years ago it was the entrance of the prison. On arriving at the top of the stairs, on the left side, you will find the private chapel of the fort, ordered to be built by D.Manuel in 1736. In the interior, it presents a coating of tiles of the 18th century which were the walls and the vaulted ceiling. Concerning a group of figurative panels with representation of scenes of the life of the Virgin, in the chapel-mor area, while in the lateral walls episodes of the life of S.Filipe are evoked, signed and dated by one of the great Portuguese masters, Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes.
Passed the church, we arrive at the front esplanade of the fort. The landscape is magnificent, the glance gets lost in the immense blue lake of the Setúbal bay, in the riverside zone of the city, in the wonderful beaches of the peninsula of Troia and in the exuberant Mountain of Arrábida. The inn inaugurated in 1965, it nests among the bastion of the fortress. In its interior, what jumps to the view, are the small runners and vaulted, allowing us to retreat in time and visualize the life of the troops in that entangled of tunnels and compartments.
Today, everything is adapted to receive the tourists and the decoration has been adapted to the place. Some pieces of furniture in the corridors are part of the furniture that was left behind over the years.
Some rooms locate in the old cells of the fort, for this reason, the dimensions are not big but the excellent use and the good taste in the decoration of the rooms provide a pleasant permanence. Eight of the rooms have a sea view; the other eight are inner rooms. The Pousada still counts with other attractions, such us a bar, a living room for social encounters, a small gambling room, a dining room and a great external terrace for example.
For those who like history, you can ask the inn manager, Carolina Marafusta, a visit to the underground galleries that are wonderful. It is worthwhile even to go inside of the depths of the catacombs and with some imagination we can go back centuries in time, and we almost feel the guards' steps in the dark corridors and we hear the wailings of prisoners.
Certain rusticity truly gives the Inn a relaxed atmosphere, seasoned with appropriate, simple and sober decoration.
In summer, you can enjoy the nights of the Castle, with a program that includes a dinner buffet, a craft exhibition and a lot of animation, among which you can enjoy fado and fireworks. To a program outside of the inn, it is worthwhile to travel through the Natural Park of Arrábida, to try the waters of Portinho of Arrábida, to prove the cheeses and wines in Azeitão or to visit Cabo Espichel.

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