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| Dorway to the Castle of Alcoutim |
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District: Alcoutim
Region: Faro, Portugal
Post Code: 8970
Distance from Faro: 91 km
Residents: 1.100
Tourist Info
+351-281 546 179
Police
+351-281 546 208
Fire Brigade
+351-281 546 623
Health Centre
+351-281 540 140
Town Hall
+351-281 546 104 |
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Alcoutim
Near the Algarve, Portugal’s border with Spain |
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| Alcoutim & surroundings, hotels, holiday villas & apartments, events, restaurants, points of interest, history and many more useful information. |
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The roots of the Alcoutim area go back to the megalithic culture around 4000 BC. From about 2500 BC to the time of the Roman empire the deposits of copper and iron attracted to establish mines. The ore was smelted locally and then shipped down the River Guadiana.
Alcoutim is located at the place where the river becomes tidal, so people wanting to ship their goods had to wait here, until the conditions allowed them to sail down the river. Thus structures to support and defend this business where needed. Due to its strategic position at the boundaries of the Guadiana River an to the neighbouring kingdom Castile, King Dinis gave it a Charta and granted it to the Military Order of Santiago.
The diminishing role of the river as a transport route, the distance of Alcoutim from the sea, and the declining of the mining industry lead to a longer period of economic stagnation. Today visitors coming to Alcoutim can enjoy peaceful hours walking through the streets of this charming town or along the river.
The castle overlooking the river was built in the 14th Century to defend the border against the kingdom of Castile. To adapt it for artillery it had to be modified in the 17th Century.
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| To learn more about Alcoutim, we would like to invite you on a virtual tour: |
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