Islamic Festival of Mértola

Of a markedly cultural and heritage origin, with strong territorial roots, the Mértola Islamic Festival is based on archaeological work carried out on Mértola’s heritage, in particular, the Islamic period. At that time, Mértola reinforces its position as the westernmost port of the Mediterranean, reaches the height of its mercantile function and assumes itself as a privileged meeting place for cultures.

Mértola Islamic Festival

For all these reasons, it was almost natural that in 2001, the first edition of the Mértola Islamic Festival would appear as part of the Municipality’s events poster. The initiative, promoted at the time by various entities, largely exceeded its initial academic, scientific, museographic, cultural and pedagogical motivations and was taken over by progressively, in the following years, also as a tourist event with a strong impact on the local and regional economy.

The Mértola Islamic Festival takes place every two years, always in odd years, and is a Mértola City Council organization in partnership with the local community and various local, national and international organizations.

in www.festivalislamicodemertola.com