Sunday, November 15, 2020

Castro Marim - Portugal

Ninocas wanted to inaugurate my new mailbox and chose this card to do so. She didn't know but this great card from Castro Marim was in my favorites wall. Loved it. 
 
Set in the rolling green landscape overlooking the broadening of the river Guadiana is the timeworn village of Castro Marim. 
 Not far from the Atlantic Ocean and just across this natural border with Spain Castro Marim has been strategically important throughout history. As far back as Roman times the river here was used to mark the boundary between what was then Lusitania and Baetica, which were to become Spain and Portugal respectively.
Like most of the Algarve, Castro Marim was occupied by the Moors. For five centuries they defended the village from a primitive hilltop fortress. However, in 1242 the Reconquests swept the region and the Christian forces of Afonso III recaptured Castro Marim.

 © Edição Vistal * Foto © Art & Concept Gustav A. Wittich
It was during the ensuing years that Castro Marim's character as a fortress-town was set. The policy of the king was to repopulate and defend the recaptured areas of the kingdom. For somewhere as strategically important as Castro Marim this meant building an impressive castle, which now dominates the town. Not only was the village physically fortified, but spiritually with it becoming the headquarters of the order of Christ, established in 1319 to replace the Order of the Knights Templar.
Perhaps the most notable building besides the castle is the 18th century church, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Mártires. Brilliant white in the Algarvian style the church has several fine features, most notably the impressive dome and bell tower. - in: https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/castro-marim

No comments: