Alcácer do Sal

Alcácer do Sal
Municipality
Alcácer do Sal, along the Sado River, showing the Reconquista Moorish Castle
São João Baptiste
Website	http://www.cm-alcacerdosal.pt/

Alcácer do Sal (Portuguese pronunciation: [alˈkasɛɾ ðu ˈsal] ^ⓘ) is a municipality in Portugal, located in Setúbal District. The population in 2011 was 13,046,^[1] in an area of 1,499.87 km².^[2]

History

Earliest settlement

There has been human settlement in the area for more than 40,000 years; archaeological investigations have placed human presence here back to the Mesolithic Period, when the first peoples began to concentrate in the areas around Alcácer. This period was characterized by exploitation of the ecosystem in the Sado Estuary, when the river extended to São Romão, involving fishing, scavenging for shellfish, hunting and foraging in the local forests. The primitive tools, made from chert, were adapted from the techniques of the late Paleolithic era. By the late Mesolithic period, people had concentrated in the area of Comporta and Torrão, later establishing primitive defensive protection to support their communities.

These principal settlements were abandoned by the

Roman Era

After the

With the rise of Gaul, most of Hispania became a vassal state of the larger empire. Returning to the Imperial fold with the 296AD reorganization of Roman territories by Diocletian (in order to subvert the Military Anarchy that existed at the time), Salatia's role was transformed. Circa 300? it was the seat of a Diocese of Salácia (Portuguese) / Salacien(sis) (Latin) / Salarien(sis) (Latin), which was however suppressed around 350.^[4]

In the following centuries, Salatia became a poor distant colony of the much larger centers of Setúbal or Lisbon. The only exception was Torrão, which continued to prosper. Until 711, when the region was annexed by the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus, the population of the hilltop areas of Salatia left in favor of the low lands along the river.

Al-Andalus

The

Records of the

Once the castle was taken, many of the northern Crusaders requested Pope Honorius III allow them to remain for a year "for the liberation of Hispania" and "the extirpation of the perfidious cult of the pagans".^[9] The victory in Alcácer do Sal also motivated Alfonso IX of León, Sancho VII of Navarre, in addition to Iberian prelates and nobles, to break their truces with the Muslim leaders, in hopes that the northern Crusaders would continue their campaigns the following summer. But, the Pope granted only absolution from their vows to those who could not continue to the Holy Land, and the Crusaders left the Castle to the Portuguese and continued on to Acre.^[12]

The capture of Al Qaşr was the only permanent conquest of the Fifth Crusade.^[14] In 1218, Alcacer do Sal received its foral from King Afonso II, and handed over to the Knights of Santiago, who made it their headquarters during their advance into the Alentejo and Algarve.^[12] The Order of Santiago dominated an area from Sesimbra until the Algarve, controlling the lower Sado, Alentejo Litoral and coast of Cape St. Vincent.^[7] At the end of the 13th century, the Order advanced to Mértola to support reconquest of the Algarve, but later retreated to Alcácer and remained there until 1482, when they returned to Palmela.^[7]

Along with the Christians and the town's small population of Jews, the remaining Muslims in Alácer do Sal begin to occupy the low country along the river, and vacate the Castle. The Muslims, under the "King's protection" remained in the community.^[7]

In 1495, Manuel I was acclaimed King by the residents of the village.

Slave trade

By the 16th century, the whole Sado Basin, where Alcácer do Sal is located, had experienced an important African immigration as a way to compensate for the demographic deficit that accompanied the Portuguese overseas expansion. Later, in the 18th century, a new wave of slaves was imported to Alcácer do Sal to work the salt fields and cultivate rice, the two important economic activities in the region. A recent genetic study in 2010 found in Alcacer the highest frequencies (22%) of

A few kilometres from the city of Alcácer, along the course of the Sado, is the Reserva Natural do Estuário do Sado (Sado Estuary Nature Reserve) which covers an area of 23.160 hectares (231,600 m²), comprising marshes, canals, streams and mangroves.

Human geography

The municipality is bounded to the north by the municipalities of

Alcácer do Sal is a historical city and municipality that overlooks the Sado River; its medieval town developed from barrios that surrounded an ancient Muslim castle. Alcácer do Sal is the municipal seat, which includes two civil parishes, both having a population of 6002 residents.^[17]

The second-largest municipality (

• Alcácer do Sal (Santa Maria do Castelo e Santiago) e Santa Susana
• Comporta - part of the larger Comporta Coast region; although a traditional a centre of rice cultivation and fishing, the parish and villages have seen more interest recently with luxury tourism, associated with the white-sand beaches of the Sado estuary, and its proximity to the coastal beaches of the Atlantic. Its resident population is less than 1400 permanent inhabitants, although throughout the summer these numbers increase with the influx of vacationers and tourists;
• São Martinho
• kilometers from the municipal seat, was the birthplace of Bernardim Ribeiro
  , 15th Century poet and writer and has in the Trigo de Morais Dam one of its main tourist attractions.

Alcácer do Sal has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with hot dry summers and mild wet winters.

The highest recorded temperature in the city was 46.2 °C (115.2 °F) on 4 August 2018.^[19]

Architecture

Civic

• Archaeological site of Senhor dos Mártires (Portuguese: Estação Arqueológica do Senhor dos Mártires)

Military

• Castle of Alcácer do Sal (Portuguese: Castelo de Alcácer do Sal)

Religious

• Convent of Nossa Senhora de Ara Caeli (Portuguese: Convento de Nossa Senhora de Ara Caeli/Pousada de D. Afonso II)

Notable citizens

• Bernardim Ribeiro (1482 in Torrão – 1552), poet and writer, wrote Livro das Saudades.^[21]
• cosmographer, and professor; best known for his contributions in the technical field of navigation
• Portuguese First Republic
  ; worked in Torrão
• Francisco Gentil, (Wiki PT) (1878 – 1964), medic, professor, and director of the Institute of Oncology in Lisbon
• Ruy Coelho, (Wiki PT) (1886 – 1986), composer of innovative symphonies and operas
• João Branco Núncio (1901 – 1976) equestrian and bullfighter, known as Califa de Alcácer
• Maria Rosa Colaço (1935 in Torrão – 2004) - writer, known for A Criança e a Vida, an anthology of children's texts.
• José Mamede (born 1974) retired footballer with 292 club caps, known as Mamede
• Filipe Brigues (born 1990) Portuguese footballer with over 250 club caps

References

Notes

Sources

• "Alcácer do Sal". Revista popular: Semanario de litteratura e industria (in Portuguese). 1–2 (42). Lisbon, Portugal: Imprensa Nacional: 329–330. 16 December 1848.
• O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (2003). Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  ISBN 0-8122-1889-2
  .
• Costa, António Carvalho da (1709). Corografia portugueza, e descripçam topografica do famoso reyno de Portugal (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Oficina Real Deslandesiana.
• "História" (in Portuguese). Alcácer do Sal, Portugal: Câmara Municipal de Alcácer do Sal. Archived from the original on 11 October 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
• Villegas-Aristizábal, Lucas, "Was the Portuguese Led Military Campaign against Alcácer do Sal in the Autumn of 1217 Part of the Fifth Crusade?" Al-Masaq 30:1 (2019). doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09503110.2018.1542573

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Alcácer do Sal.

• Photos from ALCÁCER DO SAL