Mertola: The museum village in the interior of the Alentejo

: Super User; Portugal; 19 December 2020; Hits: 2641

Mertola: The museum village in the interior of the Alentejo

Itinerary to visit this small museum-village and escape the confusion of the busiest destinations cities in the Algarve beaches and the Alentejo coast. In the interior of the Alentejo you will find the necessary calm to regain your energy.

Mertola, a small fortified village on the banks of the Guadiana River next to the Algarve hills and where the river becomes less deep. When you arrive in Mértola from the Algarve, you can immediately see at the top of its hill and with an imposing air the old castle and all its old houses within the walls.

The walls that once served to protect the population due to their strategic interest are today a point of tourist interest that bring many of its outsiders to the village. Walking through the streets of the museum village is a journey into the past, towards discovering the remains of the presence of great civilizations.

Despite the importance that this village had in the past, for its port and later for the exploration of the São Domingos Mine, it is currently quite calm and is far from the hustle and bustle of the big urban centers and mass tourism of the Algarve. Its climate, invites you to take a quiet stroll through its alleys, always aiming at the castle, which, above, dominates the surrounding landscape.

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In the river, you can discover it's banks, and on sunny and torrid days, they are a very refreshing experience. In an area a little further north of Mértola you can take a good dip in the Guadiana River, in a quieter and shallower area of the river, formed by its water mills and recovered as a leisure and picnic park.

Visiting the Alentejo region and not taste its gastronomy is as the popular saying goes, "go to Rome and not see the Pope". In Mertola there are many restaurants to choose from and there is good suggestions for tasting the specialties. Migas, gaspacho, wild pork, cheeses, traditional sausages, river fish dishes and all other specialties are not lacking in the menus of the various restaurants.

Near Mertola - what to visit

A few kilometers from Mértola is a small oasis in the middle of a dry Alentejo and with high temperatures during spring and summer. Following the N265 road, the small village of São Domingos Mine has its Tapada Grande River Beach at the entrance. This river beach has animation, sand, water sports, beach bar, shadows and lots, lots of water. This is a place to enjoy as much as you can.

Be sure to also visit the mine village itself as it is an open-air museum. In all the houses you will find a bit of history as they were the residence of the former workers. Also go through the entire exploration area of the old São Domingos Mine, visit the Museum and the Mineiro's house located in the small village.

The route where the exploration was located must be done by car or mountain bike since it has several kilometers. This follows that which was the first private train line in Portugal and which connected the São Domingos Mine to Pomarão (on the navigable banks of the Guadiana River). The entire area of the mine and the route that follows the old line is devoid of vegetation and the ruins of the old factories that treated the ore extracted from the mine are visible.

Also interesting is a visit to the mining village of Pomarão, where the train line ended and where the ore was transferred to the ships to then follow its destination. In this area you can still see some of the mechanisms used and go through the tunnels where the train passed.

Located 18 km from Mértola is the well-known Pulo do Lobo Waterfall, which is a great attraction for those exploring the stunning landscapes of the Guadiana Valley Natural Park. The waterfall is formed in a narrower area of the Guadiana River that, according to legend, a hunting wolf crosses it in one jump.

Pulo do Lobo Location Map

Mertola Hotels

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Plan your trip using the following tools and / or websites

To find the best hotels rates, use the Booking. It is one of the best booking websites for hotel stays. To compare prices for stays you can use the Hotels Combined or hotellook. These search engines show the different prices of other websites to the same destination. If you need to travel by plane, search for flights on a price comparator. Highly recommend is the jetradar. To search for activities you can access this existing comparator on the scannertrip. Transfers to and from the airport can be purchased through the website kiwitaxi. So you do not need to get in touch with the different companies in your destination looking for the best price. To find the best car rental price you can use the autoeurope website that compares the prices of different companies.

Using the links above and the tools on the website you will helping to keep Scannertrip. For the use of this links and tools you will not pay more for it but for Scannertrip will makes all the difference!