Name of Monument:

Noudar Castle

Location:

Barrancos, Beja, Portugal

Date of Monument:

Hegira 2nd/3rd–7th centuries / AD 8th/9th–13th centuries

Period / Dynasty:

Umayyad, early Taifa kingdoms, Almoravid, Almohad

Description:

Standing between two water courses, the fortress of Noudar looks to us today like one of the most isolated points of the region of Beja, a long way from the main thoroughfares, away from the most fertile agricultural areas and in a territory where the main reason for such a longstanding human presence was mining.
Occupying a schistose platform between the banks of the Ardila and Múrtega rivers, close to their confluence, the abandoned town of Noudar has a walled enclosure covering approximately 12,800 square metres. Built on a rocky promontory 275 metres above sea level, the perimeter wall that can be seen today, some 500 metres in length, corresponds to the major building campaign of the king, Dom Dinis, in the early 14th century.
It is probable that this place was a humble tower (burj) or watchtower designed to protect a small settlement, which may have been used to watch over this boundary of the cora or territorial district of Beja. The section of tabiyya (dry mud) wall faced with schist stone and extending for almost 50 metres which runs along the south side of the citadel, may date from the Islamic period. This hypothesis has not yet been confirmed by archaeological research however. In any case, and even without confirmation of the dating of this section of the wall to the Islamic period, it is clear from the difference in level between the interior of the citadel and its exterior, that the line where that structure was built corresponds to the southern boundary of the burj.
The town in the Islamic period was clearly related to the military structure which stood here. From the topography of the site it can be seen that this tower was built on the highest point in the area, later occupied by the Christian citadel. The area occupied by this structure and the adjacent areas would have been some 2,000 square metres. Systematic excavations carried out on the site by Miguel Rego have revealed the presence of another area of settlement, close to the northern end of the present castle and physically separated from the burj. It has also been established that the space between these two areas (tower and residential area) was never occupied during the Islamic period. Finally, there is a possibility that outside the walls there may have been a group of dwellings in an area of no more than 1,500 square metres. The inhabited area was probably around 10,000 square metres in total.

Standing on a schistose plateau between the rivers Ardila and Múrtega, close to the point at which they join to form a single watercourse, the abandoned town of Noudar consists of a walled enclosure totalling some 12,800 m2. In Islamic times, the village was clearly linked to a military structure and the mining activity that would have justified inhabitation of the site. The topography of the area suggests that a tower would have stood at its highest point, which was later the site of a Christian citadel.

How Monument was dated:

The monument was dated from the archaeological materials found in the excavations carried out on the site, as well as from typological parallels between its walls and others known in the south of Portugal.

Selected bibliography:

Rego, M., “Investigações Arqueológicas no Castelo de Noudar”, Arqueología en el Entorno del Bajo Guadiana, Huelva, 1994, pp.37–53.
Rego, M., “Noudar (Barrancos): do Calcolítico à Vila Medieval”, short thesis on archaeology presented at the University of Huelva, 2001.
Rego, M., “Noudar no Contexto da Margem Esquerda do Guadiana em época Islâmica”, in Actas de las I Jornadas de Cultura Islámica, Almonaster la Real, 2001, pp.99–112.
Rego, M., “A Ocupação Islâmica de Noudar”, Arqueología Medieval, no. 8, Porto, 2003, pp.69–82.

Citation of this web page:

Santiago Macias "Noudar Castle" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;pt;Mon01;28;en

Prepared by: Santiago MaciasSantiago Macias

Santiago Macias é licenciado em História (variante de História da Arte) pela Universidade de Lisboa e doutorado em História pela Université Lumière – Lyon 2. Investigador do Campo Arqueológico de Mértola e técnico superior da Câmara Municipal de Mértola desde 1991. Foi comissário científico das exposições “Portugal Islâmico” (Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Lisboa – 1998) e “Portugal-Marrocos” (Musée d'Art Contemporain, Tanger – 1999). É membro do comité científico do itinerário/exposição “Terras da Moura Encantada” (Lisboa, PICT e Museu Sem Fronteiras, 1999/2000). Recebeu em 2001 o Prémio Rómulo de Carvalho pelo livro “O legado islâmico em Portugal” (escrito em colaboração com Cláudio Torres). Foi responsável pela coordenação do projecto do Museu Islâmico de Mértola (2001). É responsável editorial da revista “Arqueologia Medieval”. Dedica-se ao estudo do período islâmico em Portugal, com particular incidência nas questões de urbanismo e habitat.
Translation by: Gilla Evans
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: PT HH