MARVAO

At 800 meters above the rugged mountains of the Sierra de San Mamede, rises this fortified city that bears the over-the-name of "The Nest of Eagles".

A place of difficult access was since time immemorial safe haven for the men of the different cultures that settled there throughout the times. According to the latest research, it appears that its current name comes from Muslim rule, since its foundation is attributed to the muladi Ibn Marwan, founder in the year 875 of Badajoz.

His disagreements with the Caliphate sometimes forced him to evade the Cordoba troops, taking refuge in this ancient settlement that he re-established and strengthened, as a shelter for his family and his troops. In 1160 the Portuguese monarch D. Alfonso Enriquez conquered this enclave, which possibly returned at Arab hands, given the deep swings suffered by the border between the northern and southern kingdoms. Sancho II granted him his own in 1226, in front of the strategic position of the new enemy of the west, who repeatedly tried to appropriate the area. It is known that in the time of D. Dionis, in 1299, the monarch ordered the

The wars of Succession, Restauration and that the two nations fought peninsular, they wrapped the population in many events in the war that was sometimes the Spanish crown which invaded the area , while others were Portuguese armies and allies, wich through Valencia de Alcantara are sending inland in Spanish territory. During the Wars of Independence Peninsulares, Spain, Portugal and Britain acted allies against the armies of Napoleon. In its early Marvão was taken by the French, who were evicted in 1808. Shortly later, in 1833 was also the scene of the Liberal Wars.

The different historical eras were adorning the face of this fortified village, which is a living museum, where time, styles and customs, have been fossilized. A popular architecture alentejana also has its indelible mark, adorning beautiful surroundings, with windows and flowery typical chimneys.

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  Antonio García Candelas        Suggestions and impressions