Fodor's Expert Review Museu Municipal de Mértola

Mértola has a handful of fine museums all within walking distance of one another on the town's hilltop, which together make a wonderful afternoon of sightseeing. The Núcleo Islâmico has impressive displays of jewels, metal items, and a collection of ceramics from the 9th to 13th centuries, when Mértola was ruled by the Moors. The Casa Romana is a restored, Roman-era house in the basement of the city hall. You can walk through the house's foundations and view a small collection of pottery and kitchen tools excavated nearby. The nearby Museu de Arte Sacra has religious statues and carvings from the 16th through 18th centuries, borrowed from Mértola's various churches. The museum group's oldest collection is housed in the Basílica Paleocristã and includes funerary stones and other artifacts excavated from the site of the town's paleo-Christian basilica and nearby cemetery.