An Open Air Museum - Mértola

If we had known what we know now, we would have made the city of Mertola, one of our stops. Less time in Faro and two or three days in Mertola.
What an interesting town, with an even more interesting history.

Mértola sits high on a rocky ridge in the Guadiana Valley Natural Park overlooking two rivers that join at that spot. This area is known as the Alentejo region which is known for its heavy red wines and distinct food. It is less than 15 km away from the Spanish border.

We had been enjoying our drive through farmers’ fields, rolling hills and cork forests but rather unexpectedly, as we approached Mértola, the view changed dramatically. There in front of us, high above a river, was an awesome castle and it’s white village.

In the past, Mértola’s strategic position meant that only determined armies would have even the slightest chance of taking the fortress at its centre. Because it is on a narrow ridge, the village is really not able to grow in the immediate vicinity of the fortress. It now has about 3,500 people.

There is so much history here that I became confused. I made a little chart of approximate times that certain groups lived there -

318 B.C. - the Phoenicians
44 B.C. - the Romans
440 A.D. - the Swabians and Visigoths
1144 A.D. - the Muslims
1238 A.D. - the Portuguese

We started to drive up towards the castle, but had to turn back as the cobbled streets are extremely narrow and there were sharp corners. We could see where several vehicles had left their mark on the walls. There was some road construction going on, on the steep hill in front of us and we were not allowed to go any further up. Turning the manual car around was a bit of a concern but Chris did find a place to turn and with the help of several of the workmen, he successfully got the car turned around. We parked below the castle and walked up.

The castle was awesome from faraway but pretty amazing from closeup. And the views? Wow!

We had read that the town was ‘ the gateway to many civilizations, many cultures and insights into this part of Portugal.” Sounds intriguing.

Mértola was under Islamic rule for more than 500 years and is the site of Portugal’s only surviving medieval mosque. In 1238, the Portuguese took over the area and the mosque became a Catholic Church called the the Igreja Matriz (mother Church), dedicated to St. Mary. With a small bell tower and white walls, the exterior of the church looks like many others in this region, but when you go inside ... wow! It looks like the inside of a mosque!

We entered the ‘keep’, a tower that is 30 metres (98 ft) tall. We climbed the circular stone stairs to the top where a person with any trouble with heights would easily have trouble standing next to the old walls and peering over to take photos, just would be impossible.

Down below there was a Muslim-like cemetery and an archaeological site.

In the fort, we watched a short movie about the history of the town. As this town used to be a major trading centre, there is evidence of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans having also left their mark there. They were drawn by the region’s mineral wealth. Gold, silver, tin and later copper were all mined here. Also grains were grown in the area.

Archaeologists have uncovered a wealth of artefacts in the town. Outlines of walls and doorways, known locally as the ‘Muslim village’ were visible on ground between the castle and the river. Most of the other towns of that time developed as the years went on and remains of Muslim buildings were destroyed or built upon. In Mértola, nothing much happened so many of the old items are still there, or in museums.

We had heard about a tunnel that we could enter by going down some steps. It was a subterranean gallery – a crypto-portico – about 30 metres in length and 6 metres in height that had served as a food store and later as a cistern. Pretty dark down there.

The view of the river below was spectacular. During the Middle Ages the river silted up and Mértola’s significance declined as a river port, but definitely its beauty remained.

By the time we finished seeing the castle and the archaeological site and a few other places, it was close to lunch and everything here closes up for 2 hours. There was so much more for us to see and do as the whole town is full of small museums, hiking trails and birds galore.

But what could we do? We had a light lunch and a great coffee and continued on for another 2 hours to Evora.Read more