Mértola - Mértola

Mértola is a city of Lower Alentejo.

To know

Background

Mértola was colonized by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and finally by the Romans who called it Myrtilis Iulia. Mértola's position, on a steep rise overlooking the confluence of the Guadiana rivers, was crucial to its historical beginnings. Agricultural products grown nearby villae rusticae, and precious minerals (silver, gold and tin) extracted in its territory were loaded on ships that went up the river and exported throughout the Mediterranean area.

Between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD_C. Myrtilis, was part of the Roman province of Lusitania falling back into Conventus Pacensis, an administrative district whose capital was Pax Julia, today's Beja, located a few kilometers further north. Under Augustus it was elevated to the rank of Municipium also obtaining the right to mint its own currency.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Myrtilis was occupied by the Germanic tribes of the Swabians and Visigoths. In this period (V-VIII century AD) its trade was reduced but still remained active, as demonstrated by funeral inscriptions in Greek which attest to the presence of Byzantine merchants in the city.

Around 711, the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by successive waves of Moors from the Maghreb who remained there for more than 400 years. Below them the river port of Mértola, then called Martulah, flourished again, engaging in trade with North Africa and other centers of al-Andalus

The Moors surrounded the village with walls and built a castle to protect themselves from the hegemonic aims of both the various emirates that arose after the dissolution of the Caliphate of Cordoba, both of the Christian kingdoms that occupied the north of the Iberian Peninsula.

In 1031, Mértola became an independent emirate (taifa) whose territory extended to the coasts of theAlgarve eastern but was occupied after less than fifteen years by the emir of Seville. After about a century Mertola became independent again (second taifa of Mertola) under the guidance of Ibn Qasi, a skilled leader of mystical tendencies who unified the Southern Portugal successfully countering the hegemony of the Almoravids in Iberian land. His equestrian statue stands at the entrance to the castle.

The dominion of the Moors ended forever in 1238 with the Reconquista of the city operated by the Portuguese king Sancho II. Mertola was donated to the Knights ofOrder of Santiago which had played an important role in the Christian conquest of southern Portugal. However, the end of the Moorish domination also brought about the end of Mértola's commercial fortunes and the beginning of a phase of decline which, except for brief parentheses, has shown no signs of stopping, not even today.

The assignment of vast tracts of land to representatives of the aristocracy, the influx of valuable products from the colonies determined the progressive depopulation of the countryside, a phenomenon common to the entire region ofAlentejo but which took on even more dramatic proportions in Lower Alentejo. The agrarian reform launched by the socialist governments after the carnation revolution tried to remedy the age-old plague of the large estates but they recovered after the left-wing governments left the political scene.

A setback occurred in 1858 with the beginning of the exploitation of mineral deposits in the nearby district of São Domingos by the company "Mason & Barry". After about a century, the deposits appeared to be exhausted and the mine closed its doors for good in 1965. In the following decade the population of Mértola was reduced by 1/3, especially in the age group between 1 15 and 25 years. The decrease in the population continues and on the basis of the 2011 census data the number of inhabitants in the city had dropped to 2008 (7,274 inhabitants on the entire municipal area).

How to orient yourself

How to get

How to get around

What see

• 37.638056-7.6644441 Castelo de Mértola, Largo da Igreja. Tue-Sun 09: 15–17: 15.  

• 37.63712-7.663392 Torre do Relógio, Rua Dom Sancho II 15. 
• 37.635833-7.6641673 Ponte de Mértola.  

• 37.638333-7.6636114 Igreja Matriz (Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Anunciação). Tue-Sun 9: 00-12: 30 & 14: 00—17: 30. Made in a mosque (mesquita) of the 12th century which in turn incorporated elements of previous buildings, in particular from the Roman era. It was only in the 16th century that a program of restorations and interventions aimed at eliminating the original appearance of the mosque was started. The battlements and conical pinnacles that adorn the temple remain from the Muslim era, as well as four arched doors in the shape of a horseshoe typical of the Mudejar style. Inside, the finely sculpted mirhab still stands out although the marbles that cover it have lost their original polychromy.  
• Museu de Mértola. Created by the Municipality of Mértola in 2004, the museum is made up of several geographically dispersed nuclei, mostly located in the historic center of Mértola and listed below: 

• 37.63671-7.663855 Roman house. 
• 37.63884-7.664086 Excavations of Alcaçova. Carried out on the north side of the castle hill, excavations have unearthed mosaics and parts of the cryptoporticus about 30 meters long and 6 meters high which probably was part of the forum of the Roman city of Myrtilis. In the late Empire, buildings devoted to Christian worship were erected on the cryptoporticus; among these a baptistery from the 5th / 6th century, later covered with marble and polychrome mosaics, of which some significant fragments depicting animals and hunting scenes remain. In Islamic times, the whole area was occupied by a residential neighborhood with about thirty houses. After the Christian conquest of 1238, the neighborhood was completely devastated and the space adapted to a cemetery. 
• 37.64072-7.661697 Basílica Paleochristã, Largo do Rossio do Carmo 10. 
• 37.67434-7.5001848 Mina de São Domingos (Contrada di Corte do Pinto, 18 km east of Mértola). The open pit mine of São Domingos, exploited since before the arrival of the Romans for the extraction of copper but also of gold and silver, remained in operation in the modern age from 1858 to 1966. The visit takes place along the route of the old railway (15 km) to the village of Pomarão, where the old river port used to export minerals was located.  

Natural attractions

• 37.8038-7.63359 Pulo do Lobo (The Leap of the Wolf) (18 km north of Mértola). Pulo do Lobo is a waterfall with a drop of 16m. located in the heart of the Guadiana Valley Natural Park. It is located at the mouth of a gorge formed by the Rio Guadiana, particularly impetuous in its upper course, as described by the Portuguese writer José Saramago.  

Events and parties

What to do

Shopping

How to have fun

Where to eat

Moderate prices

• 37.63889-7.663031 Café Guadiana, Largo Vasco da Gama 5, ☎ 351 286 094 294. 
• 37.64157-7.658922 ^{[link not working]}Restaurante Boa Viagem, Rua Dr. Afonso Costa, 1, ☎ 351 286 612 483, @[email protected]. 

Average prices

• 37.63787-7.663343 Restaurant Terra Utopica, Rua Dom Sancho II, 41. 
• 37.63957-7.661124 Restaurante Tamuje, Rua Doutor Serrao Martins 34-36, ☎ 351 286 611 115. 
• 37.63601-7.662055 Espaço Casa Amarela (Além Rio locality, on the other bank of the Guadiana river), ☎ 351 286 094 102. 
• 37.64333-7.65826 Restaurante O Brasileiro, Cerro de São Luís, ☎ 351 286 612 660. Mon-Sun 12: 00-15: 00 & 19: 00-22: 00. 
• 37.64351-7.659847 Restaurante Alengarve, Av. Aureliano Mira Fernandes, 20, ☎ 351 286 612 210. 

Where stay

Moderate prices

• 37.6392-7.66111 Alojamentos Oásis, R. Dr. Afonso Costa 104, ☎ 351 286 612 404. 
• 37.6405-7.65982 Hospedaria Rita, Rua Dr. Afonso Costa, 22-A, ☎ 351 969 650 125 (cell.). 

Average prices

• 37.63893-7.661553 Hotel Museu, R. Dr. Afonso Costa 112, ☎ 351 286 612 003. 3 star hotel. 
• 37.6391-7.66134 Beira Rio, Rua Dr. Afonso Costa, 108, ☎ 351 286 611 190. 3 star hotel. 

Safety

How to keep in touch

Post office

• 37.63937-7.663271 Post Office, Rua de Alvés Redol, 25, ☎ 351 286 610 030. Mon-Fri 09: 00-12: 30 & 14: 00-17: 30. 

Around

Useful information

• 37.63851-7.663222 Touristic office (Place of Tourist Information), Rua da Igreja, nº 31, ☎ 351 286 610 109, @[email protected]. Mon-Sun 09: 00-13: 00 & 14: 00-18: 00. 

Mértola has two pharmacies with hours from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 19:00. On Saturdays they close at 13:00. On Sundays and after 7pm, pharmacies provide emergency medical prescription assistance.

• 37.640102-7.6601573 Farmácia Pancada, Rua Dr. Afonso Costa, ☎ 351 286 618 000. 
• 37.644419-7.6604474 Farmácia Nova, Rua de Beja, 22. 

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Mértola
• Commons contains images or other files on Mértola

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