Mértola, HWW

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Mértola like many towns in this area of Alentejo has a history of trade with Phoenicians and Carthaginians, followed by settlement of Roman and Moorish invadors.

The town of Mértola itself is set on a high spur above the rivers. The walls are Moorish when the town was known as Martulah and were built over the Roman originals. In the middle of the old town stands the remarkable parish church, the Igreja Matriz - a former mosque and now a National Monument built in the 12th century.

Mértola was retaken by the Christian King Dom Sancho II in 1238 but this chuch and a smaller one, the Capela de São Gens, just outside Serpa are they only two former mosques in Portugal that were converted to churches after the Reconquest. The Igreja Matriz retains the Moorish arched doorway and the mihrab - a niche pointing to Mecca.

Mértola's castle was originally from the Moorish period but the splendid keep dates from the 13th century from the period after the Reconquest. Just outside the castle walls is the former Moorish quarter the Alcácova do Castelo, which has metal walkways over the various historical layers of Mértola: Roman drains, Moorish walls and a later Christian cemetery.

The excellent Museu de Mértola consists of a series of mini museums including the Museo Romano showing the foundations of a Roman house under the Câmara Municipal, the Museu Arte Islâmica with an important collection of Moorish glass, ceramics and funerary stones and the Museu de Arte Sacra (Museum of Religious Art) in the Misericórdia church.

The Basilica Paleocristã in Largo do Rossio do Carmo has 30 tombstones dating from over 1500 years ago.

Source: www.portugalvisitor.com/portugal-city-guides/mertola-guide