We start our tour in the town of Moura which, as the name indicates, has an arab past that can be discovered in the moorish quarter, the old arab well, the castle and the legend of the moorish princess Salúquia. From the christians the city inherited several lovely churches like the church of São João Baptista with its magnificent manueline portal. Closely associated to Moura is the olive oil production and to tell the tale of its history in this region we suggest a visit to the olive oil museum Lagar de Varas do Fojo.
From Moura we drive on to Barrancos and on the way we stop at Safara where the handicraft tradition wasn´t lost and the art of chair making, basketry and shoe making goes on. Next we find Santo Aleixo da Restauração, the village that resisted the spanish domination, and not far is the Herdade da Negrita, a farm where a dolmen can be seen.
But our final goal is Barrancos that has became famous for keeping alive old traditions such as killing the bull in the arena in the August feast bullfights, and doing the Christmas bonfire. However, there is more to tell about Barrancos: close by is the amazing castle of Noudar, a mediaeval fortified village from which only the walls, the keep and the church have survived. Barrancos is proud of its distinctiveness, its dialect (a mixture of portuguese and spanish), its handicraft and most of all the fame of the smoked hams and sausages made from black pigs that graze in the fields.
From Barrancos we leave to Serpa, and as soon as we arrive we find the Ethnographic Museum that will help us to understand several old crafts. Then we walk to the oldest part of the village, to the castle, and on the way we visit the church of Santa Maria, once a mosque. From the castle we get a view of the walls surrounding Serpa, the imposing manor of the count of Ficalho, and the ex-libris of the village: the aqueduct and the great waterwheel built in the 17th c. to supply water for the manor.
Serpa is also the name and birthplace of one of the most famous portuguese cheeses, which is made from sheep milk throughout the region.
Even if you're running out of time, don't leave Serpa without paying a visit to the Clock Museum, where you'll find one of the best collections of clocks and watches in the Iberian Peninsula.
Now we are ready to go to Mértola and on the road we are tempted by a detour to have a look at the waterfall of Pulo do Lobo and the wild landscape that the great river of the south (the Guadiana) presents here. We move on and make a stop at Mina de São Domingos to rest in the sleepy village with its big lake: it is hard to believe and imagine that still in the 60s this was a big and active mine, and even harder to conceive that in 19th c. the ore taken from here would be shipped to northern Europe through the harbour of Pomarão and that the british exploring the mining company established themselves here as if in a colony.
Finally we reach Mértola, the old village on the river bank that was once the last harbour of the Guadiana. The archaeologists working here have unearthed a roman, early christian and islamic past, so there is a lot to visit in the various thematic museums like the recently inaugurated Islamic Section, the main church (old mosque), the castle, or the excavations of the islamic quarter. We'll also discover the Weaving Museum and workshop, where we may see and buy the traditional wool blankets from the region. We end our visit going down to the river and resting by the water mills, listening to the water rushing down the dam.
Courtesy of: Região de Turismo Planície Dourada
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