MarvÃ£o - Alentejo - Portugal cover photo - 234888882

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MarvÃ£o 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 LuÃs Vitorino, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is September 8. Perched on a quartzite crag of the Serra de SÃ£o Mamede, MarvÃ£o`s name is derived from an 8th-century Muwallad rebel, named Ibn Marwan. Ibn Marwan, who constructed the Castle of MarvÃ£o - 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.[3] Nobel Prize-winning author JosÃ© Saramago wrote of the village, `From MarvÃ£o one can see the entire land ... It is understandable that from this place, high up in the keep at MarvÃ£o Castle, visitors may respectfully murmur, `How great is the world`.`