Маврвао: Португалияның тарихы мен мәдениетінің қаласы

Marvão (mɐɾˈvɐ̃w) is a municipality in Portalegre District in Portugal. The population in 2020 was 2,972 (and dropping at a rate of around one inhabitant per week), in an area of 154.90 km2. The present Mayor is Luís Vitorino, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is September 8. Perched on a quartzite crag of the Serra de São Mamede, Marvão's name is derived from an 8th century Muwallad rebel, named Ibn Marwan. Ibn Marwan, who constructed the Castle of Marvão likely on the site of an earlier Roman watchtower as a power base when establishing an independent statelet ("emirate", duchy) covering much of modern day Portugal during the Emirate of Cordoba (884 931 CE). The castle and walled village were further fortified through the centuries, notably under Sancho II of Portugal (13th century) and Denis of Portugal. The village has generated significant tourist interest in recent years. It was included in the #1 New York Times bestselling book, 1000 Places to see Before you Die. Nobel Prize winning author José Saramago wrote of the village, "From Marvão one can see the entire land It is understandable that from this place, high up in the keep at Marvão Castle, visitors may respectfully murmur, 'How great is the world'." In the 1950s, author Huldine V. Beamish wrote of Marvão, "There is an atmosphere about the district (of Marvão) that is very ancient. At times you have the same peculiar feelings as those evoked by Stonehenge and that amazing druid monument at Callernish in the Isle of Lewis. Picking your way along the steep stony pathways, you would not be at all surprised to meet a Phoenician trader or Roman Soldier. It would be the most natural thing in the world." An annual international classical music festival, under the artistic direction of German conductor Christoph Poppen, was launched in Marvão in July 2014. The village also hosts an international film festival, Periferías, in August each year. Other annual festivals in Marvão include 'Al Mossassa' a celebration of the town's Moorish past, held jointly with the Spanish city of Badajoz (also founded by Ibn Marwan) in early October, plus a major Chestnut Festival in early November.

Commanding views across the Tagus basin and Serra de Estrela to the north, the fortified rock of Marvão has been a site of significant strategic importance since the earliest human settlements. Today, lying on the 'raia' that divides Portugal and Spain, Marvão has consistently stood on a frontier zone between peoples: Celtici, Vettones and Lusitani (4th 2nd century BCE); Lusitanians and the Romans of Hispania Ulterior (2nd 1st century BCE); migratory Suevi, Alans, Vandals and Visigoths (5th 7th century CE); conquering moors and Visigoths (8th century); muwallad rebels and the Cordoban emirate (9th 10th century); Portuguese nation builders and Moors (12th 13th century); Templars and Hospitallers (12th 14th century); Portuguese and Castilians (12th century present day); Liberals and Absolutists (19th century); the fascist regimes of Salazar and Franco (20th century). Marvão's natural assets have contributed to the 'uniqueness' of this remote village as perceived by visitors today: (i) as nigh impregnable 'eagle's nest' fortress perched high on a granite crag, and bordered on the south and west by the Sever river; (ii) as vital lookout point towards the Alcántara Bridge ( away), a wide stretch of the Tagus basin and the Serra de Estrela; (iii) as a gateway to Portugal from Spain via the Porta da Espada ('Sword Gate') mountain pass of the Serra de São Mamede.

The earliest dolmens in southern Portugal date from c. 4800 BCE, and this culture lasted into the Bronze Age (2000 BCE) and beyond into the Iron Age. In and around Marvão, there exists a high concentration of dolmens, rock hewn tombs, passage mounds and megaliths, dated to the 3rd millennium BCE. Together with the Sever valley sites around the nearby towns of Castelo de Vide and Valencia de Alcântara (in Spain), these form one of the densest clusters of megalithic sites in Europe. Among the 200+ neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age monuments within a range of Marvão is the 7.15m high Menhir of Meada (the largest on the Iberian peninsula), oriented to be visible from the northernmost promontory of Marvão's rock (possibly based on an alignment with the lunar calendar). Other notable sites are the Coureleiros complex of dolmens near Castelo de Vide, the Vidais dolmen (Castelo Velho) of Santo Antonio das Areias and the Las Lanchas dolmen complex of Valencia de Alcântara. Archaeological finds from this era include substantial grave goods, for example anthropomorphic idol plaques, arrowheads and axes, and jewellery. A database of idol plaques the Engraved Stone Plaque Registry and Inquiry Tool lists 16 plaques found in Marvão, 14 in Castelo de Vide, and 28 in Valencia de Alcântara. It is speculative to comment on the population of Marvão at this time. Many carved tombs and burial chambers dot the granite boulders of the landscape around Marvão, suggesting small scale farming settlements, and some cultural emphasis on burial rites and the afterlife. Excavations of dolmens (e. g. the Cavalinhas dolmen) reveal foetal position buried skeletons, and grave goods including weaponry (axes, arrowheads), jewellery (necklaces), ceramics and stone idols. Cave art and engravings in the Tagus valley ( north of Marvão: 40,000 items) point to a developed culture based on prehistoric norms of agriculture, hunting and transhumance. Further, ideograms notably, repetitions of spirals point to both abstract ideas, religious observance, and some astronomical knowledge of lunar and solar cycles. Decorative objects rock crystal arrowheads, floral and zig zagged patterned stones (pedras de raio) and ceramics, deity sculptures also suggest the development of local systems of craftsmanship, hierarchy, magic and celebration. Recent studies of idol plaques have speculated that they depict some kind of owl deity, with their engravings acting as a means to identify the individual buried by clan, marriage and lineage.