Castle of Mértola
| Castle of Mértola (Castelo de Mértola) | |
| Castle (Castelo) | |
 A view of the castle as situated on the hilltop, with the mosque/Christian church
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| Official name: Castelo de Mértola/Castelo e cerca urbana de Mértola | |
| Named for: Mértola | |
| Country |  Portugal |
|---|---|
| Region | Alentejo |
| Subregion | Baixo Alentejo |
| District | Beja |
| Municipality | Mértola |
| Location | Mértola |
| - coordinates | 37°38′20.4″N 7°39′49.5″W / 37.639000°N 7.663750°WCoordinates: 37°38′20.4″N 7°39′49.5″W / 37.639000°N 7.663750°W |
| Style | Medieval |
| Materials | Stone masonryAlvenaria, Tile, Cornerstone, Taipa |
| Origin | 318 B.C. |
| - Initiated | 44 B.C. |
| - Completion | 1292 |
| Owner | Portuguese Republic |
| For public | Public |
| Easiest access | Rua da Igreja |
| Management | DRCAlentejo (Dispatch 829/2009; Diário da República, Série 2, 163, 24 August 2009) |
| Operator | Câmara Municipal de Mértola, ceded on 18 January 1941 (adjacent terrains) |
| Status |
National Monument Monumento Nacional |
| Listing | Decree 38/147; DG, Série 1, 4 (5 January 1951); Special Protection Zone (ZEP), Disptach DG, Série 2, 37 (13 February 1970); Included in the Nature Park of the Guadiana Valley and sector plan of Rede Natura 2000 (Site of Communitarian Interest: PTCON0036) |
The Castle of Mértola (Portuguese: Castelo de Mértola) is a well-preserved medieval castle located in the civil parish and municipality of Mértola, in the Portuguese district of Beja.
In 318 B.C., during the sequence of the invasion and sack of Tyre, by Alexander the Great, the Phoenicians founded the Myrtilis or New Tyre. The region became an important trading center frequented by Phoenicians and Carthaginians, thanks to the abundance of river and land routes connecting it to the southern portion of the peninsula. Before the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, it held commercial importance among these civilizations.
During the Roman epoch, the settlement was developed, becoming the centre of the mineral extract and agriculture in the Baixo Alentejo region. Mértola was encircled by a wall system that paralleled what remains today, but much grander. The Beja road crossed the walls in the north, and by 44 B.C. Julius Cesar had renamed the town Myrtilis Julia. The first historical reference to this settlement existed in the chronicles of the Swabian bishop, Idácio, who narrated an episode dating to 440 AD, and inferred the existence of this fortified site occupied by Swabians and Visigoths.
It was destroyed and sacked by barbarian hordes, then Muslim Umayyad Africans, who reconstructed the centre for their own necessities, where the name Myrtilis was shortened to Martula. Ibn Qasi was governor of the Taifa of Mértola it is likely that defensive works during his rule (1144-1151) were carried out to the castle.
In the middle of the 12th century, the ribat was constructed on the south tower of the dungeon. During the last third of the 12th century, during the Alomhad dynasty, the site was repaired and the walls were constructed to encircle the settlement. During that time, the group of castle buildings were constructed, or reconstructed, that includes the semi-cylindrical tower. In 1171, Abu Háfece, brother of the Emir, ordered the repair and improvements to the fortress tower.
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Wikipedia