Getting to Know the

Alcoutim Area

No. of inhabitants in 2001 = 3 770 Area 576,8 (Km2)

Pereiro
Archaeological finds from the Roman period bear witness to the distant origins of this settlement. Many of the houses still retain the architecture typical of the Algarve uplands.

Main Church
Modest in appearance, this church dates back to the 16th century. It houses an interesting collection of painted retables and some fine statues.

Giões
Spread over a gentle hill, the architecture of Giões houses displays the influence of the nearby Alentejo.

Main Church
The main church is 16th century. It has a renaissance porch of great simplicity. The interior is composed of three naves, with columns topped with Doric capitals. Its main chapel has a neo-classical carved retable and its ceiling is decorated with paintings from the 18th century. There are 16th century retables in the side chapels. Among the numerous fine pieces of statuary, those of Nossa Senhora do Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Our Lady of the Assumption) and Apóstolo Sao Pedro (St. Peter the Apostle) merit particular mention along with those of Sao Domingos (St. Dominic) and Nossa Senhora das Relíquias (Our Lady of the Relics), which came originally from former hermitages.

Near Giões stand the ruins of the former medieval hermitage of Sao Domingos (St. Dominic).
The Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira (Our Lady of the Olive Tree) in Clarines is worth a visit. Dating from the end of the Middle Ages, it is associated with a tradition of appearances by the Virgin in an olive tree which, for that reason, was believed to have curative powers.

Martinlongo
It is not known when Martinlongo was founded, though it was already inhabited at the time of the Roman Occupation. It expanded rapidly from the 16th to 18th centuries, and outgrew the town of Alcoutim, a development not unrelated to the presence of a woollen goods industry and the fact that many of its inhabitants dedicated themselves to the lucrative profession of mule driver.
As a matter of historical curiosity, it is worth noting the existence at that time of a small community of African origin.

Main Church
This was originally a mosque, of which the minaret remains, now turned into a belfry. The cylindrical buttresses are probably of Moorish origin too.
The church has plain gothic porches. The interior consists of three naves, separated by ogival arches.
There are columns with inverted truncated-pyramidal capitals, influenced by the Byzantine style, rarely found in Portugal. The main altar and side altars have retables in the renaissance style, rebuilt in the 17th century.
There is an interesting collection of sculptures, most notable among which is the statue of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Our Lady of the Conception) (18th century). The walls are decorated with painted figures from the 16th century. A curious capital with gargoyles serves as a support for the baptismal font. The church houses some valuable treasures, including gilded vestments from the 16th to 18th centuries and holy objects in silver. Among Martinlongo's sites of cultural interest are the hermitages of the Espírito Santo (Holy Spirit) and Sao Sebastian (St. Sebastian), which date from the 16th century, and the hermitage of Santa Junta (St. Just), some 5 km (3 miles) away, which was built towards the end of the Middle Ages.

Vaqueiros
Some of the streets that frame the town's small, white church still bear witness to the picturesque traits of local vernacular architecture.

Main Church
This is an elegant architectural ensemble, which dates from the 16th century. The retable of the main altar and the "altar das Almas" (altar of souls) include painted wooden panels (16th century).

Following the Guadiana
There is a road that winds along the bank of the Guadiana from Alcoutim as far as Alamo. Its route leads it through a landscape of harsh beauty softened by water, foliage and flowers.
But the best way to discover the river's many delights is by boat.

In Alcoutim and Guerreiros do Rio it is possible to hire boats that can be taken either upor down the Guadiana.
Upstream from Alcoutim, watch out for the curious Rocha dos Livros (Rock of Books), a rock that looks like a shelf carved from stone, and the Ilha d'EI Rei, an island. Downstream, the river follows an enchanting course around long, gentle curves dotted with the white houses of riverside villages. As well as the attractions of the countryside, for those who enjoy history the banks of the Guadiana have much to offer in the way of mementoes of the past.

Guerreiros do Rio
A former schoolhouse in the village of Guerreiros do Rio is now home to the River Museum. The museum offers a fascinating insight into the Guadiana river and its history, the ancient techniques used to catch fish on the river, the life of the fishermen and of the inhabitants of the surrounding hills.

Montinho das Laranjeiras
Archaeological excavations have uncovered a series of buildings that once formed a roman "villa" and an interesting Christian church built on a cruciform plan that scholars ascribe to the period of Byzantine rule over the south of Iberian Peninsula (6th/7th centuries). The site was occupied continuously, most probably as a "monasterium", until after the Christian reconquest in the 13th century.

Álamo
The Roman presence in Alamo is evident from a roman "villa", investigated in the 19th century, and from the thick walls of the dam that used to block the progress of the Fornalha creek (a stretch approximately 40 m (130 feet) long and six buttresses).
This site also saw Visigothic and Moorish settlement, vestiges of which have survived to the present day.

Archaeology Route
Alcoutim municipality contains significant evidence of a human presence that dates back to pre-historic times, linked for the most part to efforts to mine the area's deposits of copper, iron and manganese. Huge stones arranged as dolmens and menhirs, deep mine shafts and galleries and vestiges of the walls of fortified villages are among the attractions to tic seen along this route, which provides a glimpse of the past and a better understanding of the present.

Curral da Castelhana Dolmen
Seen studs from the chamber remain and some studs from the corridor. Lavajo Menhir A stellar monolith with carvings.

Nearby there is another menhir, which is broken, a small dolmen arranged on a trapezoid plan and remains of a living area. Castelo de Santa Justa (Castle of St. Juste) This settlement dates back to the Chalcolithic period (3.000 B.C.). It has a walled structure with circular towers. Remains of circular dwellings are to be seen inside and outside the ramparts. Archaeological excavations have shown that this was the site of intense economic activity connected with copper melting and working, as well as weaving and the milling of cereals for flour.
On top of the surrounding hills there are Iron Age necropolises (800 B.C.) with quadrangular burial chambers fashioned out of slabs of schist. Nearby lie the mines of Santa Junta, which were worked from the town.

Laborato and Aroeira Mines
The Aroeira mine was probably worked for the first time in the Bronze Age (1,500 B.C.) - there are burial grounds in the vicinity which date from that period and also from the First Iron Age - and remained in operation until the 2nd century, during the Roman occupation. All that remains of the Laborato mine are two shafts.

Cova dos Mouros Mine
This mine was worked to a depth of 30 m (100 feet). Archaeological discoveries in the area include remains of Chalcolithic settlements, Bronze and Iron Age necropolises and evidence of the Roman presence.

Alcaria Queimada Mine
This consists of several shafts rich in copper ore (malachite). It was worked at the end of the 19th century Mid the beginning of the 20th.

Cerro do Seixo Branco and Eira do Brejo Mines, these mines were authorised anal worked at the beginning of the 20th century.

Forras Merendas/Cerro da Pedra and Galinha Mines
Situated approximately 10 miles from the mouth of the Odeleite creek, these consist of galleries.

At Cerro da Berra there are extensive remains of slag from smelting.

Cortes Pereira Mines
Next to an antimony mine there are the shafts, some already dilapidated, of a copper ore mine which probably date from around 1500 B.C. On the tops of the nearby hills there are necropolises with box-shaped burial chambers from the Bronze Age. An inscription attests to the Roman presence in the second half of the 2nd century.

Clarines
The walls of the village chapel incorporate building materials from the time of the Visigoths. Digs have uncovered evidence of settlement by the Romans, Visigoths and Moors that has survived to the present day.

Castelo das Relíquias (Castle of Reliquias)
A fortified enclosure of Moorish origin on the top of a hill that dominates a strategic point on the right bank of the Vascão creek. Those keen on archaeology can also visit the Chalcolithic settlement of Castelo das Mestras and the Bronze Age necropolises of Nossa Senhora de Alcoutim, Relva Chan, Vicentes, Pereiro and Vaqueiros.

The World of Birds
Thinly populated, with vast expanses of brush and undergrowth, Alcoutim municipality is a paradise for birds and bird-watchers alike. Tens of species choose the region's hills for their habitat, including predatory short-toed eagles, round-winged eagles, black kites, European sparrow hawks, kestrels, goldfinches, nightingales and larks.

The Guadiana river and its banks are home to a wide variety of aquatic birds, including storks, ducks, water hens, kingfishers, stone curlews, bitterns and many others.

The Good Food of the Hills
The influence of the uplands is evident in the local cooking of Alcoutim and its municipality, not only in lamb and pork dishes, but also in the rabbit, hare, partridge and wild boar that finds its way to the table during the hunting season.
But a fine meal can be had with just a bottle of local wine and a tasty loaf of bread cooked in a traditional wood-burning oven, accompanied by olives, cured ham, a variety of cured sausages and goats' and ewes' cheese prepared according to age-old recipes.

Closer to the Guadiana the menu extends to include mullet, barbel, goldfish, black bass, eel and other types of freshwater fish, grilled over cork oak charcoals. And who can resist a plate of freshly caught lamprey?
There are plenty of local cakes and puddings to tempt the sweet-toothed, with such exotic names as "azevias". "bolos de massa de pão", "filhós", "folares", "suspiros" and "pupias", as well as more familiar treats like nougat, made with honey and almonds and renowned throughout the Algarve.

After a rneal down, there is nothing better than a glass of fig brandy or medronho" (arbutus-berry liqueur), slowly distilled in copper stills in the upland villages.

Blankets, Baskets and Much More.
The ancient techniques of popular crafts are still preserved in the villages of Alcoutim, where the locals continue to weave rag blankets, covers and linen cloths on wooden looms (Clarines, Penteadeiros, Mestras, Barroso, Vaqueiros) and where the women make shawls, stockings, straw hats and lace (Vascão, Cones Pereira, Zorrinho, Lutão, Tacões, Vaqueiros, Fernandilho, Cachopo).

Craftsmen in Balurcos, Cones de Seda, Clarines, Azinhal, Ferrarias, Galaxinhos, Sao Lucas and Alcaria Queimada make baskets from the reeds that grow on the banks of the Guadiana river and creeks.
The mules and donkeys that work in the fields are shod by smiths in Pereiro, Balurcos and Vaqueiros, while hoes, scythes and other tools connected with agriculture are produced in Corte Serranos. Also of interest is the work of the saddle makers in Giões and Pereiro who use straw, coarse linen and woollen threads to make coloured collars and other strapping pieces for horses and mules.

The wealth of popular crafts in Alcoutim also includes items of metal work in copper and brass, woodworking, wickerwork and, above all, jute dolls representing typical occupations, production of which is centred in Martinlongo, and colourful maize-straw flowers from Lutão de Baixo.

Practical Tips Alcoutim Bars. Alcoutim Restaurants. Alcoutim Hotels. Algarve Eye home page