Ponte de Sor
The city's name is derived from the first roman bridge, which was part of the 3rd military road connecting Lisbon to Merida. An area of upheaval in between borders during the reconquest, Ponte de Sor, which initially belonged to the Templars, was taken back by the Order of St. Benedict. Its first "Foral Charter" was bestowed upon it by the Diocese of Évora in 1161, and later ratified by D. Manuel. Once the roman bridge was gone, King João VI had the bridge that stands today built in 1822
The name of Moura (Moorish woman or girl) is born from a mixture of legend and history. Salúquia, daughter of the region´s Moorish governor, was waiting for the arrival of her lover when his sequit was attacked and he was killed by the Portuguese, who then used the Arabs´ clothes to trick Salúquia into ordering the drawbridge to be lowered. She is said to have committed suicide, throwing herself from the castle tower, both by grief for her bridegroom´s death and guilt for the enemy´s victory.
Distinguished by the ancestral force of religious orders and rural nobility, expressed in beautiful 17th century manor houses, in several convents (some restored to provide new functions), in churches which display Manueline doorways, rich Baroque altars and unforgettable frescos and tiles. The memory of those times lives serenely with the present and integrates itself with it, as in the more modest houses which have a steadier history.
