Marvão - Alentejo, Portugal
Posted by: 
manchanegra
N 39° 23.685 W 007° 22.712
29S E 639625 N 4361837
Marvão is a little Portuguese Village in Portalegre district, Alentejo Region. His castle was used from Pré-historic times untill the XIX century.
Waymark Code: WMBZB7
Location: Portalegre, Portugal
Date Posted: 07/07/2011
Views: 10
Marvão is a little Portuguese Village in Portalegre district, Alentejo Region.
The name Marvão comes from an arab warrior called "Ibn-Marwan", that died in 889. He was a lider of a movement that decided to fight the Emirs of Córdova and found a sort of independent Kingdom.
This was the place he choose to build his fortress.
Little is known about the early ocupation of this place. Possibly it was a pré-historic fortification.
There are some thesis that state that this place was in a middle of a dispute between Caesar and Pompeus and was conqered by the army of the first one. The interest in the place was due to a Roman road passing nearby connecting Cáceres to Santarem.
There´s not much information in the invasions period of the Suevos, Visigotic, Muslims.
Between 876 and 877 came Ibn Marwan and in the X Century the place was known has Amaia of Ibn Marwan or the Amaia Fortress.
D. Afonso Henriques (The first Portuguese King) conquered the place to the Muslims between 1160 and 1166.
This eagles nest was allways very important for the defense of the Portuguese territory from the Kingdom of Castela (Spain) and was renewed trought the times being upgraded with the late war technology.
It was the only Portuguese castle that in the XIX Century was still important for the defense of the country.
Today, Marvão keeps much of it´s Medieval charm and it´s a great place to escape from the stress of the big cities.
The Castle is a National Monument and the village is a candidate to Unesco World Heritage.
The given coordinates should take you to the parking near the castle.
Take your time to explore the Castle and the village walking trough it´s streets discovering it´s medieval secrets.
Name of Source Book: 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, updated ed. (2010)
Page Location in Source Book: 251
Type of Waymark: City
Location of Coordinates: Inside the city walls near the Castle
Cost of Admission (Parks, Museums, etc.): 0.00 (listed in local currency)
List Available Hours, Dates, Season:
24/7
Official Tourism Website: [Web Link]
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