Mértola

Mértola stands on a spur where the Oeiras meets the Guadiana, at the highest point the river was navigable from the sea, which made it a port under Rome as Myrtilis and a significant town under Muslim rule as Mirtula, briefly an independent taifa in the twelfth century. It declined afterwards and was never overbuilt, which is why the archaeology survives. The parish church is the striking case: it is the former mosque, kept largely intact at the Christian conquest, with the mihrab still visible in the wall behind the altar, horseshoe-arched doorways and twelve columns dividing the space - one of very few Portuguese mosques whose plan survives. The town runs as a vila museu, with a single ticket covering an Islamic art museum holding an important ceramics collection, Roman house remains, a basilica, the castle, a weaving workshop and a blacksmith's forge.

What you actually see

• The mosque-church - the mihrab and horseshoe arches surviving inside the parish church.
• The Islamic museum - a ceramics collection from the town's period as a taifa.
• The vila museu - a single ticket covering Roman, Islamic and medieval sites.
• The setting - a spur above the Guadiana at the head of navigation from the sea.

When to go

March to June and September to November; summers here are among the hottest in Portugal. A day to see the museum circuit properly.

Honest expectations

Extreme heat from June to September. Steep cobbled streets throughout. Sites on the combined ticket keep different and sometimes short hours, and some close over lunch. Accommodation in town is limited.

Nearby

Pulo do Lobo is upriver in the Guadiana park; Beja is north.