COMPLEJO RELIGIOSO CRISTIANO DE MÉRTOLA

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Historic environment

In Late Antiquity (5th through the 7 th century), a set of religious buildings dedicated to Christian worship was built on the north platform of Mértola’s City Wall, on top of the ancient roman forum. From these monumental buildings, we have uncovered a portico, two baptisteries, a basilica and a cryptoporticus which was transformed into a cistern.

The two baptistries have a rectangular floor plant and in the centre they have an octogonal pool with steps. These buildings were richly decorated with mosaics, marble plates in the pavements and fresco paintings in the domes.

The mosaics have remarkable scenes of a knight hunting with a falcon, exotic animals (among them two lions facing each other, a leopard and an ostrich), several birds, a mythological scene of Bellerophon riding Pegasus fighting against the Chimera and several geometric motifs.

Description

In Late Antiquity (5th to 7th centuries), a set of religious buildings dedicated to Christian worship was built on the platform north of the wall of Mértola, above the ancient Roman forum. Of these monumental buildings we have discovered a portico, two baptisteries, a basilica and a cryptoportico transformed into a cistern.

The two baptisteries are rectangular in plan and in the center have an octagonal pool with steps. These buildings were richly decorated with mosaics, marble plaques on the sidewalks, and fresco paintings on the domes.

The mosaics feature notable scenes of a knight hunting with a falcon, exotic animals (including two facing lions, a leopard and an ostrich), several birds, a mythological scene of Bellerophon riding Pegasus fighting the Chimera and various geometric motifs.

Other interesting information

Possibility of visits by the general public or only specialists.
General public: Plaza Luís de Camões, 7750-329 Mértola, Tel.:286 610 100

From Mars to Sunday: from 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Closed: moons, January 1, May 1 and December 25

Ticket price: Guided Tours €2 / person

Bibliography

BOIÇA, Joaquim e MATEUS, Rui (2014). Mértola: Roteiro de história urbana e património. Mértola: Associação de Defesa do Património de Mértola, 244-251.
MACIAS, Santiago (2014). “Basílica Paleocristã”. Museu de Mértola: Catálogo Geral. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 42-63.
LOPES, Virgílio (2014). “Mértola na Antiguidade Tardia”. O Sudoeste Peninsular entre Roma e o Islão. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 138-165.
TORRES, Cláudio; MACIAS, Santiago (1993). Museu de Mértola: Basílica Paleocristã. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola.
TORRES, Cláudio (2014). “Do Cristianismo primitivo ao Islão”. O Sudoeste Peninsular entre Roma e o Islão. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 46-53.
TORRES, Cláudio; RODRIGUES, Clara; RAFAEL, Lígia; PALMA, Maria de Fátima; COSTA, Miguel Reimão, GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana; LOPES, VIrgílio (2021). “Mértola (Portugal): topografia diacrónica de la ciudad medieval (siglos V al XVI)”. RETUERCE VELASCO, Manuel (Ed.), Actas VI Congreso de Arqueología Medieval (España-Portugal) Alicante, 2019. Ciudad Real: Asociación Española de Arqueología Medieval, 143-149.

Portals

Museu de Mértola

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