Cacela-a-Velha no contexto da Actividade Marítima e do Povoamento Rural do Sudoeste Peninsular nos séculos XII-XIV

Resumen

Cacela-a-Velha is a small village In eastern Algarve, located on a Miocene cliff. It is bordered by a lagoon protected from the ocean by a sandy barrier island. Nowadays Cacela and its sourroundings lie within the Ria Formosa Natural Park (Parque Natural da Ria Formosa), which has protected it from the Algarvian urban destruction. I discovered Cacela through that institution, which provided me not only with the knowledge on the dynamics of its natural systems, but also on the local population's role in landscape building. Institutional circumstances allowed me to proceed with archaeological emergency excavations from 1990 to 1992. After that, it was the beauty of the area that moved me to further research. Nowadays Cacela is a quiet, slimly populated site, surrounded by good agricultural fields, facing a calm sea and void of maritime life�a situation that clashes with al-Idrisi's description of a strong and well populated castle and sea port in the 12th century. I started by reading the available bibliography about the area. European founding projects allowed new excavation and the gathering of a reasearch team for the study, protection and management of Cacela's cultural heritage. This thesis synthesizes the research developed in the last few years. The applied methodology correlated different historical elements: document sources, including ancient cartography and soil maps; archaeological data from the Islamic Quarter (Bairro Islámico) of Pogo Antigo, the Medieval Necropolis of Cacela and the Fortress Square (Largo da Fortaleza); the analyses of building parameters and evolution of Cacela's architecture; field survey and etnographic inquiries; and consultation of geomorphology, biology and zooarchaeology studies, During the medieval period, the castle of Cacela was positioned on the confluence of the Guadiana and Faro (or Ria Formosa) rivers. It was a strategic port, accessing the city of Faro at the west and the Guadiana River at the east. The fortress itself existed since at least the 10th century and was later modified several times. In the Almohade period, the alcazaba (Alcágova) had some works, including the construction of a warehouse for cereals and lodgings. Cacela expanded to its port area, a new quarter next to Hortas creek (ribeira das Hortas). Its castle had jurisdiction over the Middle and Lower Guadiana, as well as the coast to Tavlra, a territory with significant population. The 13th century Christian conquest significantly changed the social and territorial structure of Cacela. The area was then given to the Santiago Order, and the trust (comenda) of Cacela began the parochial organization of rural Algarve after constructing the first church in the region. A moorish quarter (mouraria) was established to accommodate the local islamic population. In between the city of Tavira and the Portuguese-Castiilian border, the trust of Cacela was gradually reduced. Changes in the lagoon geomorphology contributed to its depopulation. In the 16th century, new works in the fortress were taken to help with the defense of the Guadiana area after the Portuguese occupied several North African sites. The main objective of this study is to understand the past history of Cacela's port and castle within the medieval Southwestern Iberia settlement and landscape evolution.