HomeAcknowledgementsEthical StatementOur missionOur visionTeam
OverviewMarine Astrolabes InventoryPewter from Shipwrecks
Overview
OverviewEtude du site des canons du rocher blanc à El Hamdania, CherchellPreliminary Study of a Shipwreck in the Bay of El Hamdania Beach (Cherchell, Algeria)
OverviewMaritime Archaeology of Baleal
OverviewCheck-List for Investors in Treasure Hunting VenturesCultural Heritage LawEthics TextsResources 2 to deleteShort Texts about Treasure Hunting
All PostsThe Cultural Affiliation of ShipwrecksArchaeology and ChangeLarge and Small Boats: Reflections from Nautical ArchaeologySharing primary data before the work is overArchaeology is public or it is nothingStandardizing the publication of wooden hull structuresPepper Wreck 15 Years LaterThe Nautical Archaeology Digital Library Blog
ShipbuildingReport a findContact us
Map with the doors of Medieval Santarém (after Angela Beirante, 1980).

Map with the doors of Medieval Santarém (after Angela Beirante, 1980).

Santarem on the Tagus (2)

Filipe Castro

Defensive Spaces

The structuring features that hint at the organic design of old Santarem are the defensive spaces. The historic center of Santarém is clearly visible in the maps, and the shape of the walls that protected the village over the centuries can still be reconstructed along most of its extension.

Walls

Santarém was fortified probably already in Roman times, and certainly during the Arab occupation. Its walls were expanded, demolished and rebuilt several times, and it is not easy to reconstruct the several walls built over time.

Doors

Most of the city's old doors were demolished to let larger carts, and then cars, into the historic center. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a number of these constructions were old and in need of repair, and the city council saw them as obstacles to progress.

Porta do Sol – This door is still standing, even though the road that connected the citadel to the waterfront eroded away. It connected the upper town to the lower houses near the river through a steep road. Several sources suggest that erosion has changed this part of the hills upon which Santarém was built.

Porta do Sol seen from inside the walls
Figure 09. Porta do Sol seen from the inside of the walls (Wikipedia).

Porta da Alcáçova (or de Santiago) – This door is still standing and it was the main door of the castle already in 1249. The buildings around it have probably changed a lot since the 13th century, but the door is still preserved with part of the city walls.

Porta de Santiago seen from outside the walls
Figure 10. Porta de Santiago seen from the outside of the walls (Santarem.pt).

Porta da Atamarma – Possibly built or improved in the early 12th century, it was part of the city fortification at the time of its conquest by D. Afonso Henriques, in 1147. It was demolished 1865, together with the little Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Victória.

Watercolors of the door of Atamarma
Figure 11. Watercolors of the door of Atamarma right before its demolition, seen from the interior and exterior of the village.

Porta de Manços – This door was demolished in the late 19th century (1864). It was probably one of the most important doors, linking the city to Lisbon by land. An Islamic cemetery was found outside this door in the 1990s.

Porta de Manços in the late 19th century
Figure 12. Porta de Manços in the late 19th century.
The field east of the city wall
Figure 13. The field east of the city wall (early 20th century postcard).

Towers

Most of the towers mentioned in historic documents or deduced to have existed in the areas of the city doors have been demolished, for various reasons. Some were incorporated in other constructions, and a few are still standing.

Torre das Cabaças
Figure 14. Torre das Cabaças (early 20th century postcard).

Torre das Cabaças – This square tower dates to the 15th century, and was perhaps built over a previous defensive structure. Originally built to house a clock, it changed its name in the 18th century, when an iron structure was built on top of it to suspend a bell (bearing the date 1604), and eight ceramic gourds (cabaças).

Torre do Alporão – It was a circular tower, demolished in the late 18th century (1785), when Queen D. Maria I (1784-1816) visited Santarém, because the aft axis of her chariot did not fit between this tower and Torre das Cabaças.

Bridges

The crossing of the Tagus River was traditionally done by boat. In 1810, during the Peninsular War, there was a French project to build a boat bridge, a platform built over boats, but the information about this project does not abound.

Santarem viewed from the southern margin
Figure 15. Image of Santarem viewed from the southern margin (Illustrated London News, 1846).
Harbor of Santarem in 1876
Figure 16. Picture taken by photographer Carlos Relvas from a sand bank, showing the harbor of Santarem in 1876.

The train from Lisbon arrived in 1861, and it must have impacted the fluvial traffic along the river. It was not until 1881 that a bridge was built over the Tagus, Ponte D. Luis I, which is still in use. A second bridge was built in 2005, Ponte Salgueiro Maia, to the south of the city.

Ponte D. Luis I
Figure 17. Ponte D. Luis I, viewed from the small and the poor city harbor with virtually no apparent infrastructure.

Ponte de Alcource – The bridge over the Ribeira de Alcorce, at Ribeira de Santarem, was built in the late middle ages, probably in the 14th century, and possibly to replace an early Roman bridge that may have existed in this place.

Ponte do Alcource
Figure 18. Ponte do Alcource, over Vala de Palhais.

Water Systems

Almost completely destroyed and forgotten, a number of subterranean channels seem to have been cut under the city and on its northern area. There are mentions of several of these tunnels, for instance, near Vale de Estacas, deemed dangerous for children and destroyed by the military with a bulldozer in the early 1970s.

Cisterns

Most monasteries and several houses had underground cisterns, and several are still in existence. We have inventoried ten so far. The cistern pictures presented below were taken by José Freitas and posted on "A minha Santarém."

Santa Maria da Alcáçova cistern
Figure 19. Santa Maria da Alcáçova cistern (Photo: José Freitas).
Nossa Senhora de Jesus cistern
Figure 20. Nossa Senhora de Jesus cistern (Photo: José Freitas).
Seminário cistern
Figure 21. Seminário cistern (Photo: José Freitas).
Nossa Senhora da Piedade cistern
Figure 22. Nossa Senhora da Piedade cistern (Photo: José Freitas).
São Francisco cistern
Figure 23. São Francisco cistern (Photo: José Freitas).
Second cistern of S. Francisco convent
Figure 24. Second cistern of S. Francisco convent (Photo: José Freitas).
S. Bento cistern
Figure 25. S. Bento cistern (Photo: José Freitas).
Entrance to the gallery that leads to Mãe d'água cistern
Figure 26. Entrance to the gallery that leads to Mãe d'água cistern (Photo: José Freitas).
Ruins of Mãe d'água
Figure 27. Ruins of the building known as Mãe d'água.

Mãe d'Água – This old building has not deserved enough archaeological attention and it is difficult to find bibliography detailing its age and functions. In the 1970s it was used to keep sheep during the night, and was eventually abandoned and covered with vegetation. In 2012 the municipality cleaned it from the vegetation. This site dates probably from the Arab occupation and was possibly associated to an aqueduct that transported water to the old castle.

Fountains

Fonte das Figueiras
Figure 28. Fonte das Figueiras (visitarportugal.pt).

Fonte das Figueiras – This fountain dates to the late 13th or early 14th century and was designated national monument and probably conserved in the early 20th century.

Chafariz de Palhais
Figure 29. Chafariz de Palhais (early 20th century postcard).

Chafariz de Palhais – Built in the late 18th century, on the old road to Coimbra. There was a church in this area – Santa Maria de Palhais, and it is likely that there was an older fountain in the place of this one.

This Series

LandscapesBack to globe