Minas de São Domingos and the Pulo do Lobo waterfall put it on the map, but this Alentejo land has much more to visit, being the stage for one of the richest historical heritages of the Alentejo. Between Roman and Arab remains there are other times. And you sleep looking at the stars.
There are even more than 40 year old, the entire museum, which today can be visited on an open-air walkway in the tour of the Alcáçova do Castelo de Mértola it was a huge abandoned suburb where children played among fig trees. Without knowing, ran over precious shards of Islamic and Roman pieces and he went to observe them, as they entered and exited tunnels in the ground, that Cláudio Torres, founder of Mértola Museum, discovered what would become the epicenter of the Mértola Archaeological Field, says local guide Nuno Roxo.
The jobs, started in 1978, revealed that the supposed tunnels where the children ventured gave access, after all, to an Islamic cistern used from a Roman construction, buried by time. Removing grave after grave, A dense necropolis from the Low Middle Ages was also discovered through excavations., Islamic houses from the 12th and 13th centuries and a baptistery from the 6th century (of the most important found in the Mediterranean), surrounded by mosaics with animal figures and hunting scenes.
Archaeologist Cláudio Torres was the driving force behind the preservation of Mértola.
This circuit through the remains of the Islamic Quarter It’s just a sample of what the famous Alentejo “museum village” has to offer to those who visit it, and is due to its great promoter Cláudio Torres, archaeologist and researcher, today 80 year old. Many of the archaeological remains found there during more than three decades of excavations were transferred to the various centers of the municipal museum, scattered throughout the old town. Anyone who wants to see and understand them in light of the territory's Islamic heritage has, that is why, to walk several streets, the nucleus of Islamic art being one of the most interesting to visit, as it has the largest collection of luxury Islamic ceramics in the country.
Halfway to the castle is the Church, “the only mosque in Portugal to function as a Catholic church”. “It was always a space for religious worship, regardless of who practiced it”, says guide Nuno Roxo. Dating from the 12th century, emerges as a witness to the permanence of Muslims, who made Mértola the capital of a small independent Islamic emirate. The conquest of Mértola for the Portuguese kingdom took place during the reign of D.. Sancho II, thanks to the knights of the Order of Santiago, and the Islamic door was replaced by a Manueline one, as well as the call tower for prayer transformed into a bell tower.
The Castle, built by the Almohads from very ancient structures, made it difficult to conquer territory. After numerous requalification campaigns, reached our days with the status of national headquarters of the Order of Santiago until 1316 and national monument. Visiting it, you can access the parade ground and the imposing keep, with 30 meters high, where there is also a museum with remains from pre-Islamic times that attest to the presence of other peoples, like the Visigoths, in the territory.
Eat and sleep with a river view
Walking through the narrow and bumpy streets of the village you can easily reach the Mértola tourist office, address also of Mértola House, a small museum that replicates Alentejo houses from the beginning of the 20th century that have survived to this day. Contrary to what happened in houses in larger areas of the Islamic neighborhood of Alcáçova,, Here, the houses usually only had a kitchen and a bedroom., despite the fact that large families live there, linked to fishing and agriculture.
With very different characteristics is the house where Nadia Anghel, of 38 year old, and his mother opened the restaurant Utopian Landa, four years ago. The building firstly resembles a typical Alentejo house, with thick walls and many rooms, but then you realize that it was decorated with elements of Moroccan inspiration and those from other countries.
On the menu, Nadia opted for Mediterranean dishes (made by mother), like chicken breast with vegetable rice and beef steak from Alentejo, and in Herdade da Bombeira wines, made in the region. Dessert can be enjoyed on a balcony with a privileged view of the banks of the Guadiana and the modern bridge that joins the banks between Mértola and the village of Beyond-Rio.
Until at least the mid s 1960, transport of vehicles, goods and people between the banks was done via a boat bridge, nothing more than a rudimentary-looking barge, which later sank.
The remains of the mooring sites and a used piece of road remained., today, for access for canoes and small boats to the river. The person who tells it is Nelson Margarida, owner of several businesses in Mértola, one of them the bed & breakfast Aunt Amália's House, opened six years ago on the left bank, in Além-Rio.
A casa, as a matter of fact, It was an old inn and was entirely restored with six rooms spread over two floors and decorated with Alentejo and Moorish features., in charge of his wife, Martha Cruz. In the rooms of the second house – the Yellow House Space -, over the river, the accommodation style is the same, but the view is completely different, outlined that emerges, on the wall, the entire village of Mértola. Already night, under the starry sky that can only be seen in Alentejo, It's worth having dinner at the regional and Mediterranean cuisine restaurant. Under, in the summer months, There is a tapas bar and live music sessions.
Nelson knows how to marry the traditional and the contemporary, whether or not he was responsible, also, by history Guadiana Coffee, embedded in a wall for over a hundred years, in the main square of the village. “It was the first cafe to have a television” in those parts, account, and that after a few years without direction, it regained movement, now with an offer more aimed at tourists, based on Portuguese snacks, and making use of a pleasant terrace. Dali, set out to discover this unique village, home to one of the most complex historical and cultural heritages of Alentejo.
A souk grocery store and designer jewelry
Craft beers and wines from the region, jams, liquor, cheeses, filled, nuts, fleur de sel, preserves, marmalade, bread dough and spices. You can find a little bit of everything at Mercearia Souk, a small shop in the center of the village. Jenny Duarte and her husband opened this space at the end of April, passionate about Moroccan crafts and products from North Africa, That's why they also sell ceramics, tagines and decorative tiles. In the goldsmithing workshop of teacher and jeweler Nádia Torres, daughter of the renowned archaeologist, author pieces are made and sold, especially in silver and bronze. Certain earrings, for example, are inspired by those that women from Mértola wore in the 12th century, giving them social meanings and powers against the evil eye.
The weaving tradition recovered
The traditional occupation of women is weaving woolen items, using artisanal loom machines, began to recover in 1987 with the formation of the Mértola Weaving Workshop Cooperative, aiming at local development, and today it is one of the reasons to visit the village. In space, that works as an office, museum and store, explains what the wool cycle is like since it is removed from Campaniça sheep (the most common species in the territory) until you enter the loom machine and you can watch the weavers work live. It is known that the origins of the decorative motifs on Alentejo blankets lie in ancient Berber traditions.. In addition to blankets, with the wool they also made coiders, wallpaper, saddlebags, socks, caps, shawls and scarves. Linen was most often used to make towels., naperons and various types of cloths.
Script originally published in Evasões magazine (publication of Jornal de Notícias) of 25 October 2019. Schedules and other information may have changed.
Source: Lidador News / Evasions
Text: Andre Rosa
(Photography by Reinaldo Rodrigues/GI)
