Núcleo de Arte Islâmica del Museu de Mértola

Una collezione di arte islamica a Mértola, una città sul Guadiana con un profondo passato islamico.

A decorated ceiling in the Islamic art collection at Mértola

Mértola, on a bend of the River Guadiana, was one of the most important Islamic towns in what is now Portugal. Its museum preserves that heritage, and the Núcleo de Arte Islâmica brings together ceramics, epigraphy and objects that illuminate daily life in the town during the Islamic period.

An Islamic town on the Guadiana

The museum of Mértola was created in the 1980s around the archaeological work carried out in the town, and is organised in several nuclei across the historic centre. The Islamic art collection is one of its most important holdings, reflecting the town’s role as a river port and trading centre in the Islamic period.

Cosa vedere

Islamic ceramics and household objects.
Epigraphy and architectural fragments from the town’s Islamic past.
The wider museum circuit, including the old mosque that became the parish church.
The historic centre of Mértola, with its castle and riverside setting.