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Estroina - Cerveja Artesanal
9.8 mi from the city centre · Mértola · Portugal
Above the Guadiana: Mértola
Mértola stands on a hill above the northernmost navigable stretch of the River Guadiana, a position that made it a river port for Romans and al-Andalus. Read on for a mosque turned parish church, a castle of the Order of St James and the copper of the São Domingos Mine.
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Mértola stands on a hill above the northernmost navigable stretch of the River Guadiana, a position that shaped its history as a river port. In the Iron Age it was defended by a wall about 2 km long, probably built between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. The Romans called it Myrtilis Iulia; it minted its own coins, became a municipium under Augustus, and shipped farm produce and minerals down the Guadiana to the Mediterranean. Greek tombstones of the 6th and 7th centuries point to trade continuing after the fall of Rome. Under Islamic rule the port linked the Alentejo with the rest of al-Andalus and North Africa; after the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031 Mértola became an independent taifa, and between 1144 and 1150 it was again the seat of an independent state under Ibn Qasi. The 12th-century mosque was later turned into the parish church but kept some of its original features. Sancho II conquered the town in 1238 and gave it to the Order of St James, whose seat stayed here until 1316; most of the castle, including its keep, dates from this period, and charters followed in 1254 and, from Manuel I, in 1512. Copper from the São Domingos Mine, discovered around 1850, brought a new wave of development until the mine was exhausted in 1965. From the 1980s, archaeological surveys uncovered remains of Mértola's past and turned the town into a cultural tourism destination.
Craft beer in Mértola is a rare find, so treat any local pour as a bonus after a walk up to the castle.
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Mértola stands above the northernmost navigable stretch of the Guadiana. The Romans, who called it Myrtilis Iulia, shipped farm produce and minerals down the river to the Mediterranean, and under Islamic rule the port linked the Alentejo with the rest of al-Andalus and North Africa.
The 12th-century mosque of Mértola was later turned into the parish church but kept some of its original features. After the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031 the town became an independent taifa, and between 1144 and 1150 it was again the seat of an independent state under Ibn Qasi.
Copper from the São Domingos Mine, discovered around 1850, brought a new wave of development to Mértola until the mine was exhausted in 1965. From the 1980s, archaeological surveys uncovered remains of the town's past and turned it into a cultural tourism destination.