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Mértola (pron.
Pronunciation

"Pronunciation" refers to the way a word or a language is usually spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If someone said to have "correct pronunciation," then it refers to both within a particular dialect....
 ) is a municipality
List of municipalities of Portugal

This is a list of the municipalities of Portugal. Portugal is divided into 18 districts and 2 autonomous regions , Azores and Madeira. The districts and autonomous regions are further sub-divided into 308 municipalities ....
 in southeastern Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 next to the Spanish
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 border. It has a total area of 1,292.87 km² and a total population of 8,712 inhabitants (2001). In terms of land area, it is the sixth-largest municipality in Portugal. The resultant population density
Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans....
 of 6.74 persons/km² is the second-lowest in Portugal, behind only that of adjacent Alcoutim
Alcoutim

Alcoutim is a town and a municipalities of Portugal in southeastern Portugal near the border with Spain. The municipality has a total area of 575.32 km? and a population of 3,411 inhabitants....
. The municipality is composed of 9 parishes and is located in the southeastern part of the District of Beja, in the Lower Alentejo
Alentejo

Alentejo is a south-central region of Portugal. Its name's origin, "Al?m-Tejo", literally translates to "Beyond the Tagus" or "Across the Tagus"....
 region.

The seat of the municipality is the village of Mértola, which has around 3100 inhabitants.






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Mértola (pron.
Pronunciation

"Pronunciation" refers to the way a word or a language is usually spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If someone said to have "correct pronunciation," then it refers to both within a particular dialect....
 ) is a municipality
List of municipalities of Portugal

This is a list of the municipalities of Portugal. Portugal is divided into 18 districts and 2 autonomous regions , Azores and Madeira. The districts and autonomous regions are further sub-divided into 308 municipalities ....
 in southeastern Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 next to the Spanish
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 border. It has a total area of 1,292.87 km² and a total population of 8,712 inhabitants (2001). In terms of land area, it is the sixth-largest municipality in Portugal. The resultant population density
Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans....
 of 6.74 persons/km² is the second-lowest in Portugal, behind only that of adjacent Alcoutim
Alcoutim

Alcoutim is a town and a municipalities of Portugal in southeastern Portugal near the border with Spain. The municipality has a total area of 575.32 km? and a population of 3,411 inhabitants....
. The municipality is composed of 9 parishes and is located in the southeastern part of the District of Beja, in the Lower Alentejo
Alentejo

Alentejo is a south-central region of Portugal. Its name's origin, "Al?m-Tejo", literally translates to "Beyond the Tagus" or "Across the Tagus"....
 region.

The seat of the municipality is the village of Mértola, which has around 3100 inhabitants. The village of Mértola is located on a hill by the Guadiana river, and its strategic location made it an important fluvial commercial port from Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
 through the period of Islamic domination. Among the vestiges of its past, Mértola boasts the only mediaeval mosque
Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, ? . The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque ,...
 to have survived in Portugal.

The present Mayor is Jorge Pulido Valente, elected by the Socialist Party.

The municipal holiday is June 24.

History


Origins

During Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
, Mértola was inhabited by Phoenicians, Carthaginians and finally the Romans
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
, who called it Myrtilis Iulia. The strategic location of Mértola, on a hill by the Northernmost navigable part of the Guadiana river, was crucial in its early development. Agricultural products grown in the villae
Villa

A villa was originally an upper-class country house, though since its origins in Roman Republic times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably....
 nearby and valuable minerals (silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
, gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
 and tin
Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, where it occurs as an oxide, SnO2....
) obtained from the lower Alentejo
Alentejo

Alentejo is a south-central region of Portugal. Its name's origin, "Al?m-Tejo", literally translates to "Beyond the Tagus" or "Across the Tagus"....
 region were sent from the fluvial port of Mértola via the Guadiana to Southern Hispania
Hispania

Hispania was the name given by the Ancient Rome to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into Roman provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior....
 and the Mediterranean. The village was raised to the status of a Municipium
Municipium

A municipium belonged to the second highest Social class of Ancient Rome cities, being inferior in status to the colonia . The first municipium was Tusculum....
 in times of Emperor Augustus and was connected to important Roman towns (Beja
Beja

Beja can refer to:*Beja , a city and municipality*District of Beja *Beja, Latvia, a town and municipality in Latvia*Beja, a princly state in India, Himachal Pradesh...
, Évora
Évora

?vora is a city and a municipalities of Portugal in Portugal. The city proper has 41,159 inhabitants, and the municipality has a total area of 1,307.0 km? with a population of 55,619 inhabitants....
) through a road system.

During the Migration Period
Migration Period

The Migration Period, also called Barbarian Invasions or V?lkerwanderung , was a period of human migration which occurred within the period of roughly 300?700 Common Era in Europe, marking the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages....
, Mértola was invaded by Germanic tribes of the Sueves and the Visigoth
Visigoth

The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe, the Ostrogoths being the other. Together these tribes were among the barbarians who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period....
s. In this period (5th-8th centuries) commerce was reduced but still active, as evidenced by Greek tombstones from the 6th-7th centuries found in Mértola which suggest the presence of Byzantine
Byzantium

Byzantium was an Ancient Greece city, which was founded by Greeks colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas ....
 merchants in the village.

Islam in Portugal

Around the year 711, Hispania was invaded by the Moors
Moors

In the Spanish language, the term for Moors is Moro; in Portuguese language the word is mouro. There seems to have been some confusion about the relationship of the word moro/mouro to the word moreno , both from Greek language ma?ros, i.e....
 from the Maghreb
Maghreb

The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib , meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea....
, inaugurating a period of great influence of Islamic culture in the Alentejo region that would last nearly 500 years. Mértola - then called Martulah - and its port played an important economic role in the commerce of agricultural and mineral goods between the Alentejo and other parts of Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to the parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Arab Muslims, at various times in the period between 711 and 1492....
 (Arab Hispania) and Northern Africa.

Mértola had a wall dating from Roman times, but the Muslims built new fortifications and, eventually, a castle to protect it from rival Muslim and Christian states. After the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba

The Caliphate of C?rdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and North Africa from the city of C?rdoba, Spain, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous Mezquita....
, in 1031, Mértola became an independent taifa
Taifa

In the history of Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, an emirate or petty kingdom, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba in 1031....
 state, until conquered by the Kingdom of Seville
Seville

||-||}Seville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Seville ....
 in 1044. Between 1144 and 1150 the village was again seat of an independent state led by Ibn Qasi, a mystic and skilled military leader who unified Southern Portugal and fought the power of the Almoravides. The independence of the region, however, was soon ended by an invading Almohad
Almohad

The Almohad Dynasty , was a Berber people, Muslim dynasty that was founded in the 12th century, and conquered all northern Africa as far as Libya, together with Al-Andalus ....
 army. The most important remnant from the Islamic period of Mértola is its mosque
Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, ? . The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque ,...
, built in the second half of the 12th century and later turned into a church, but which still preserves many of its original characteristics.

Reconquista

In 1238, in the context of the Reconquista
Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims....
, the village was conquered by Portuguese King Sancho II
Sancho II of Portugal

Sancho II , nicknamed "the Pious" and "the Caped" or "the Capuched" , , fourth List of Portuguese monarchs, was the eldest son of Afonso II of Portugal by his wife, Urraca, princess of Castile....
, putting an end on centuries of Islamic domination in the Mértola region. The village was donated to the Knights of the Order of Santiago
Order of St. James of the Sword

The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword is a Portugal Order ....
, a Military Order
Military order

A military order is a Christian order of knighthood that is founded for Crusades, i.e. propagating and/or defending the faith , either in the Holy Land or against Islam or paganism in Europe, but many became secularization later....
 that played a vital role in the Christian conquest of Southern Portugal. The seat of the Order was established in Mértola until 1316. From the Reconquista time date most of the castle, including its mighty keep
Keep

A keep is a strong central tower which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main Human habitat area, or contain important stores such as the Armory , food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a siege....
, and a letter of feudal rights (foral
Foral

The word Foral derives from the Portuguese language word Foro, ultimately from Latin FORVM, equivalent to Spanish language fuero....
), granted in 1254.

With the ties with Northern Africa severed, the economic importance of Mértola and the Guadiana faded after the Reconquista. In the 15th-16th centuries, when the Portuguese conquered several cities in the Maghreb, Mértola experienced a brief revival in its economic relevance, supplying Portuguese troops in Northern Africa with cereals. King Manuel I
Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I ; Portuguese language: Manoel I, English language: Emmanuel I), the Fortunate , 14th List of Portuguese monarchs was the son of Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu, by his wife, Beatriz of Portugal ....
 granted a new foral to the village in 1512.

Modern times

After a long period of economic stagnation, the discovery of copper
Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
 in the S. Domingos mines led to a new wave of development that would end abruptly in 1965, when the mine was exhausted. In the next decades, the municipality lost much of its population, who emigrated to richer parts of Portugal and other European countries. Starting in the 1980s, a series of archaeological surveys brought to light various remnants of past periods of Mértola, and the village became an important cultural touristic site.

Monuments

  • Mértola Castle: The castle of Mértola is located on the highest point of the village. Even though the castle is of Muslim origin, the current building dates from a reconstruction carried out by the knights of the Order of Santiago after the village was taken by the Christians. The most notable feature of the castle is its 30 metre-high keep
    Keep

    A keep is a strong central tower which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main Human habitat area, or contain important stores such as the Armory , food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a siege....
     tower, finished around 1292, which has an inner hall covered with Gothic
    Gothic architecture

    Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
     vaulting. The defences include a city wall, which still encircles the village.
  • Main Church: The most important monument of Mértola is its main church (the matriz), originally a mosque
    Mosque

    A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, ? . The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque ,...
     built between the 12th and 13th centuries. After the Christian conquest of the town, in 1238, the mosque was turned into a church, but its architectonic structure was left unaltered. In the 16th century the church was partially remodelled, gaining Manueline
    Manueline

    The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic is the sumptuous, composite Portugal style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro ?lvares Cabral....
     vaulting with a new roof and a new main portal in Renaissance
    Renaissance

    The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
     style. Nevertheless, the inner arrangement of the naves of the church, with four naves and several columns, strongly resembles that of the original mosque, and the interior of the church still has the mihrab
    Mihrab

    A mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying....
    , the decorated niche that indicates the direction of the Mecca
    Mecca

    Mecca , also spelled Makkah , Makka is a city in Saudi Arabia. Home to the Masjid al-Haram, it is the holy city in Islam and plays an important role in the faith....
    . Outside, the church has four portals with horseshoe
    Horseshoe

    File:Horseshoes.JPGA horseshoe is a U-shaped item made of metal or of modern synthetic materials, nail ed or Polymethyl methacrylated to the hooves of horses and some other draught animals....
     arches, typical of Islamic architecture.


Mértola Museum

The museum of Mértola consists mostly of archaeological findings and excavations, with collections distributed all over the village. Among the exhibits are:
  • Islamic art: The nucleus of Islamic art of Mértola is the most important in Portugal. It consists of various objects (pottery, glassware, metalwork, coins) dating from the period of Islamic domination. The collection is housed in the old cellars of the noblemen of the House of Braganza
    House of Braganza

    The Most Serene House of Braganza was the dynasty which ruled Portugal from 1640 to 1853 and the Empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889. It is a collateral line of the House of Aviz, which ruled Portugal from 1385 until 1580....
    .
  • Palaeochristian basilica: Remnants of an ancient Christian church, of the basilica
    Basilica

    The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a ancient Rome public building , usually located in the Forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC....
     type, with an active cult lasting from the 5th to the 8th century. It has a large collection of palaeochristian tombstones with inscriptions.
  • Roman house: Excavations of a Roman house found under the Municipality building.


Parishes

  • Alcaria Ruiva
  • Corte do Pinto
  • Espírito Santo
  • Mértola
  • Santana de Cambas
  • São João dos Caldeireiros
  • São Miguel do Pinheiro
  • São Pedro de Solis
  • São Sebastião dos Carros


Population

Population of Mértola (1801 – 2004)
1801 1849 1900 1930 1960 1981 1991 2001 2004
9617 10757 18910 26310 26026 11693 9805 8712 7996


External links