Алкасер-ду-Сал: История и археология древнего поселения.

Alcácer do Sal (alˈkasɛɾ ðu ˈsal) is a municipality in Portugal, located in Setúbal District. The population in 2011 was 13,046, in an area of 1,499.87 km2.

There has been human settlement in the area for more than 40,000 years; archaeological investigations have placed human presence here back to the Mesolithic Period, when the first peoples began to concentrate in the areas around Alcácer. This period was characterized by exploitation of the ecosystem in the Sado Estuary, when the river extended to São Romão, involving fishing, scavenging for shellfish, hunting and foraging in the local forests. The primitive tools, made from chert, were adapted from the techniques of the late Paleolithic era. By the late Mesolithic period, people had concentrated in the area of Comporta and Torrão, later establishing primitive defensive protection to support their communities. These principal settlements were abandoned by the Copper Age, but repopulated during the Iron Age, as was the case of Alcácer. Mediterranean trade, pioneered by the Phoenicians, introduced commercial colonies in Abul and Alcácer (then referred to as Bevipo or Keition), where a written alphabet and currency allowed commerce to flourish.

After the Third Punic War, with the fall of Carthage, Alcácer was annexed to the Roman Empire (around 1st 2nd century B. C.). The municipality of present Alcácer became known as Urbs Imperatoria Salacia in honor of the sea god Neptune's wife, nymph Salacia, for its importance in the Iberian salt trade and the number of routes that crossed the area. In the third century the port of Salacia fell into disuse thanks to the emergence of Olisipo (Lisbon). With the rise of Gaul, most of Hispania became a vassal state of the larger empire. Returning to the Imperial fold with the 296AD reorganization of Roman territories by Diocletian (in order to subvert the Military Anarchy that existed at the time), Salatia's role was transformed. Circa 300? it was the seat of a Diocese of Salácia (Portuguese) / Salacien(sis) (Latin) / Salarien(sis) (Latin), which was however suppressed around 350. In the following centuries, Salatia became a poor distant colony of the much larger centers of Setúbal or Lisbon. The only exception was Torrão, which continued to prosper. Until 711, when the region was annexed by the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus, the population of the hilltop areas of Salatia left in favor of the low lands along the river.

The Ummayad rule on the Iberian Peninsula, in the reign of Abu l Khattar (743 745) over the region of Beja, which included Alcácer, was noted for the recruitment of troops, and for the rising power of Yemeni clans in southern Portugal. The entire region was later administered by Egyptian Arab troops, that selected Beja as their regional seat. Until 844, Alcácer functioned as center for the collection of taxes in the lower Sado valley: collected primarily from the Christians who chose to remain in the valley. The first Viking raids in this year forced a political reorganization, and Alcácer became an important outpost of Al Andalus. After an internal victory over Muwallad rebels in 888, the city was offered as reward to the Banu Dānis clan, and its keep was renamed Qaşr Abī Dānis (قصر أبي دانس ; ), commonly known simply as Al Qaşr The village of Al Qaşr was the base for a large fleet and arsenal that was used during the Christian Moorish Reconquista. In 997 a Moorish fleet transported troops from Alcácer to Porto, to support Al Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir, that culminated in the destruction of the sanctuary of Santiago de Compostela. It was then capital of the Al Qaşr Province, which by the 12th Century was a center of merchant traffic, supported by the opulent tastes of Évora. Muhammad al Idrisi noted that forestry, and in particular pine tree harvesting, was important during this period, as was cattle raising and major agricultural cultivation. However, the Norwegians then sailed on to the Holy Land and the town with whatever inhabitants survived remained Muslim. During the Fifth Crusade, when Afonso II of Portugal had a truce with the Almohads, Sueiro Bishops of Lisbon and Évora joined the Cistercian abbot of Alcobaça, the commander of Palmela, the Templars, the Hospitallers, and magnates, in an attempt to persuade the crusaders to attack the Moors in Alcácer do Sal. The city of Alcácer had been lost since 1191 in the aftermath of the Third Crusade campaigns of Alvor and Silves. The keep in Alcácer was conquered for the first time by the Portuguese in 1160. In 1191, it returned to Amazigh hands under the direction of Yaqub al Mansur, who transformed it into the military garrison of Garb al Andalus. According to De itinere Frisonum the Frisian Crusaders refused to help on account of Innocent III prohibition to Bishop Souiro, and departed for the Holy Land, even after being provided food, expenses, and rousing oratories about the Almohads' annual demands for 100 Christians in tribute. Meanwhile, ships under the command of William I of Holland and Count George of Wied arrived in Alcácer do Sal on 2 August 1217. They were joined by the Portuguese sent to lay siege to the castle. Muslim governors in Seville, Córdoba, Jaén and Badajoz attempted to relieve the garrison but their reinforcements were defeated on 11 September. The castle surrendered on 18 October 1217, with additional Christian troops provided by Pedro Alvítiz from Castile. Once the castle was taken, many of the northern Crusaders requested Pope Honorius III allow them to remain for a year "for the liberation of Hispania" and "the extirpation of the perfidious cult of the pagans". In 1218, Alcacer do Sal received its foral from King Afonso II, and handed over to the Knights of Santiago, who made it their headquarters during their advance into the Alentejo and Algarve.

A few kilometres from the city of Alcácer, along the course of the Sado, is the Reserva Natural do Estuário do Sado (Sado Estuary Nature Reserve) which covers an area of , comprising marshes, canals, streams and mangroves.

Alcácer do Sal has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with hot dry summers and mild wet winters. The highest recorded temperature in the city was on 4 August 2018.

Convent of Nossa Senhora de Ara Caeli (Convento de Nossa Senhora de Ara Caeli/Pousada de D. Afonso II)