ALENTEJO, SUL DO TEJO

ABOUT IT :

Just like the small cistern, this one is also shrouded in some mystery, and it is said in the village that it may have had a different function in the past, namely a religious one. We don't think so, since, below the normal level of the ground, only stores are built, almost always for water. However, in a military document from 1861, it is said, without anything being proved, that inside the Castle there is an armoury, a cistern (formerly the Mosque of the Arabs) and some warehouses (see Military Historical Archive, 3rd Division, 9th Section, Box 51, Number 17 (1861). It was in fact necessary to build a large cistern to collect rainfall and supply Marvão, which could only get water that way. According to the Parochial Memoirs mentioned in the previous note, a well opened in Terreiro, during a great drought in 1712 or 1713, never had enough water to make a fountain run and ended up being blocked (MACHADO, J. Liberata and GORJÃO, Sérgio, art. cit.) The cistern presents, in the extrasoil, a terrace with 3 skylights (today covered) and a system of 8 culverts for rainwater collection. It was, and still is, supplied by a levada of rainwater that, from inside the first enclosure of the castle, falls into the cistern after a recently built manhole. Before this box was built, there was another (1.10 m x 0.60 m), already on the outside of the cistern, into which the levada was led and then channelled by gutter into one of the culverts. The water collection system in the first castle enclosure consisted of various gutters, which even took advantage of the rainwater from the roofs. As regards its date, we believe it dates from the late Middle Ages or early modern times...

The Castle of Marvão is constituted by an imposing wall, where the typical and monumental picturesque village is enclosed, with a very old hull, and the castle itself, situated at the highest point of the rocky spur, in permanent vigilance over a bordering territory. D. Afonso Henriques is said to have taken the fortress from the Moors in 1166. Its excellent strategic position on the border defence line has earned it the attention of numerous monarchs, who have carried out major remodelling works, some of which can still be seen today. D. Sancho II granted it a charter in 1226 in order to keep this outpost populated and thus protected from the numerous attacks from Spain. But it was King Dinis who undertook the first major expansion and remodelling works. At that time - 1300 - the keep was built. Years later, during the War of Restoration, the castle was rebuilt in an architectural language which seems to have been not only of a military nature but also, we might say, aesthetic, evident in the volumetry developed at the time. Adjoining the Keep, a high interior wall still survives today, which surrounds the terreiro. This structure is still surrounded by a second line of walls, reinforced with turrets and battlements. The barbican is the beginning of an extensive defensive line that crowns the hill and surrounds and protects the town.

The Castle of Marvão is constituted by an imposing wall, where the typical and monumental picturesque village is enclosed, with a very old hull, and the castle itself, situated at the highest point of the rocky spur, in permanent vigilance over a bordering territory. D. Afonso Henriques is said to have taken the fortress from the Moors in 1166. Its excellent strategic position on the border defence line has earned it the attention of numerous monarchs, who have carried out major remodelling works, some of which can still be seen today. D. Sancho II granted it a charter in 1226 in order to keep this outpost populated and thus protected from the numerous attacks from Spain. But it was King Dinis who undertook the first major expansion and remodelling works. At that time - 1300 - the keep was built. Years later, during the War of Restoration, the castle was rebuilt in an architectural language which seems to have been not only of a military nature but also, we might say, aesthetic, evident in the volumetry developed at the time. Adjoining the Keep, a high interior wall still survives today, which surrounds the terreiro. This structure is still surrounded by a second line of walls, reinforced with turrets and battlements. The barbican is the beginning of an extensive defensive line that crowns the hill and surrounds and protects the town.

I CAN'T TELL WHY I SPOTTED THIS, BUT IT IS THE KIND OF PHOTOS I LOVE TO TAKE...

There are references to the parish of Santa Maria dating back as far as 1321, when it was handed to the Order of the Hospital, led by the Prior of Crato in this region of the Alentejo. The church was built close to the castle, on one of the highest points, overlooking one of the main streets of the town itself. Built in the Gothic style, it was remodelled during the 17th century, a fact that highlights the demographic expansion that had taken place in the town, although such a peak of population was never again matched until the present day, with the result that Marvão has managed to preserve its mediaeval features largely unaltered since then. Transformed into a Municipal Museum, in 1987, the church´s original religious function can still be recognised in its overall structure and in an 18th-century chapel, its walls covered in figurative azulejo panels and containing an altar in baroque carved woodwork. Source: www.visitportugal.com/en/NR/exeres/B95A8532-9641-48C8-B77C-00CDA7026BB3

Marvão (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐɾˈvɐ̃w] (audio speaker iconlisten)) is a municipality in Portalegre District in Portugal. The population in 2020 was 2,972 (and dropping at a rate of around one inhabitant per week), in an area of 154.90 km2. The present Mayor is Luís Vitorino, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is September 8. Perched on a quartzite crag of the Serra de São Mamede, Marvão's name is derived from an 8th-century Muwallad rebel, named Ibn Marwan. Ibn Marwan, who constructed the Castle of Marvão - likely on the site of an earlier Roman watchtower - as a power base when establishing an independent statelet ("emirate", duchy) - covering much of modern-day Portugal - during the Emirate of Cordoba (884-931 CE). The castle and walled village were further fortified through the centuries, notably under Sancho II of Portugal (13th century) and Denis of Portugal. The village has generated significant tourist interest in recent years. It was included in the #1 New York Times bestselling book, 1000 Places to see Before you Die. Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago wrote of the village, "From Marvão one can see the entire land ... It is understandable that from this place, high up in the keep at Marvão Castle, visitors may respectfully murmur, 'How great is the world'." In the 1950s, author Huldine V. Beamish wrote of Marvão, "There is an atmosphere about the district (of Marvão) that is very ancient. At times you have the same peculiar feelings as those evoked by Stonehenge and that amazing druid monument at Callernish in the Isle of Lewis. Picking your way along the steep stony pathways, you would not be at all surprised to meet a Phoenician trader or Roman Soldier. It would be the most natural thing in the world." More info in : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvão

Marvão (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐɾˈvɐ̃w] (audio speaker iconlisten)) is a municipality in Portalegre District in Portugal. The population in 2020 was 2,972 (and dropping at a rate of around one inhabitant per week), in an area of 154.90 km2. The present Mayor is Luís Vitorino, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is September 8. Perched on a quartzite crag of the Serra de São Mamede, Marvão's name is derived from an 8th-century Muwallad rebel, named Ibn Marwan. Ibn Marwan, who constructed the Castle of Marvão - likely on the site of an earlier Roman watchtower - as a power base when establishing an independent statelet ("emirate", duchy) - covering much of modern-day Portugal - during the Emirate of Cordoba (884-931 CE). The castle and walled village were further fortified through the centuries, notably under Sancho II of Portugal (13th century) and Denis of Portugal. The village has generated significant tourist interest in recent years. It was included in the #1 New York Times bestselling book, 1000 Places to see Before you Die. Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago wrote of the village, "From Marvão one can see the entire land ... It is understandable that from this place, high up in the keep at Marvão Castle, visitors may respectfully murmur, 'How great is the world'." In the 1950s, author Huldine V. Beamish wrote of Marvão, "There is an atmosphere about the district (of Marvão) that is very ancient. At times you have the same peculiar feelings as those evoked by Stonehenge and that amazing druid monument at Callernish in the Isle of Lewis. Picking your way along the steep stony pathways, you would not be at all surprised to meet a Phoenician trader or Roman Soldier. It would be the most natural thing in the world." More info in : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvão

PIP ABOVE : Marvão (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐɾˈvɐ̃w] (audio speaker iconlisten)) is a municipality in Portalegre District in Portugal. The population in 2020 was 2,972 (and dropping at a rate of around one inhabitant per week), in an area of 154.90 km2. The present Mayor is Luís Vitorino, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is September 8. Perched on a quartzite crag of the Serra de São Mamede, Marvão's name is derived from an 8th-century Muwallad rebel, named Ibn Marwan. Ibn Marwan, who constructed the Castle of Marvão - likely on the site of an earlier Roman watchtower - as a power base when establishing an independent statelet ("emirate", duchy) - covering much of modern-day Portugal - during the Emirate of Cordoba (884-931 CE). The castle and walled village were further fortified through the centuries, notably under Sancho II of Portugal (13th century) and Denis of Portugal. The village has generated significant tourist interest in recent years. It was included in the #1 New York Times bestselling book, 1000 Places to see Before you Die. Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago wrote of the village, "From Marvão one can see the entire land ... It is understandable that from this place, high up in the keep at Marvão Castle, visitors may respectfully murmur, 'How great is the world'." In the 1950s, author Huldine V. Beamish wrote of Marvão, "There is an atmosphere about the district (of Marvão) that is very ancient. At times you have the same peculiar feelings as those evoked by Stonehenge and that amazing druid monument at Callernish in the Isle of Lewis. Picking your way along the steep stony pathways, you would not be at all surprised to meet a Phoenician trader or Roman Soldier. It would be the most natural thing in the world." More info in : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvão

WITH THIS LAST ONE I CLOSE THE MARVÃO SERIES.

SAME VIEWED FROM THE HOTEL'S RESTAURANT IN PIP :