The Strongest Fortress in Europe A city that could not be conquered for 46 years
Standing at the top of the castle, I can't help but proclaim with respect that it is the strongest fortress in Europe, the great fortress of Marvão.
This is the famous quote of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature winner José Saramago, the "Marvão" castle on the hill of San Mamede in Portugal. When José heard that this "strongest fortress in Europe" had not fallen into Arab hands for 46 years, he was struck by the fact that what he meant by "the strongest fortress in Europe" was actually the history of the Arabs for more than 500 years.
The Iberian Peninsula had been under the control of the Roman Empire since 19 BC, and Octavian, the first king of Rome, had led an army to occupy the land, telling his army that it would be the westernmost piece of land in the Roman Empire and that it would be expelled at all costs.
However, the Roman Empire only existed for 400 years before collapsing, and in the 8th century, the emerging Arab Empire began to covet Europe, and its second caliphate, Abbasid, after defeating the Ansidu Protectorates, set his sights on Western Europe, landing on Gibraltar on the Iberian Peninsula, conquering Spain and Portugal, and after conquering several cities, establishing a small principality, since then, the Arabs have established a colonial history in Western Europe for more than 500 years.
Although it has been said in history that "the Arab dynasties were relatively peaceful and did not force the Spanish and Portuguese people to convert to Islam", after a long period of cultivation, the Arab Empire did not spend much effort to convert the vast majority of its citizens into its own followers, and spontaneously formed many rebel armies, including the Muradian Ibn Gilic.
The Muradis, descendants of a cross between Arabs and the indigenous people of the peninsula, were dissatisfied with the colonial rule of Dubai, so he revolted and established the Duchy of Malwan, which means "my country", so he named the fortress on the peak of the hill, which housed thousands of inhabitants.
Built on a peak in Saint-Mamed, this peak is about 800 meters high and surrounded by cliffs, with strong walls that can throw a lot of timber and rolling boulders, making it a very good defensive position.
As soon as the fortress was built, it became a gathering place for displaced people, so the "emirate" of the peninsula immediately sent troops to attack, and in the past forty-six years, they launched eleven large-scale encirclement and extermination operations, but all of them ended in failure, and the Arabs had no idea what the fortress was all about, and finally gave up the attack.
In fact, long before the invasion of the Arab Empire, the Iberian Peninsula had the great chiefs of North Africa (Berber), especially during the Umayyad Caliphate, when the "Moorish state" occupied 2 3 of the entire peninsula;Later, the Arab dynasty even crossed the Pyrenees and marched north, eventually reaching the southwestern regions of France.
But no matter what generation it is, the Arabs seem to have forgotten that in the heart of the peninsula, there is still a "Marwan State", and in the thirteenth century, the warriors of the ** religion began an expedition to regain the lost land, but they were stunned by this "Malwan State": it did not fly the flag of the Arab principalities, nor did it have Arabic, nor did it believe in Islam.
When the Portuguese Emperor Chaisan II learned of this, out of loyalty and determination to him, he pardoned him and granted him a special right, which was to give him the right to develop his territory freely, without any fees and without any fees.
At that time, all the cities of the peninsula were affected by the war, and many of the homeless people were descendants of Berbers, who went to all the towns and were driven away, except for the Marwan Castle, which was the only one willing to take them in, and finally they were settled in fifteen villages under the mountain.
Since then, the people of the village have gone to work in the mountains whenever they have time, repairing the castle if they have the skills, cleaning or fetching water if they can't work.
At the beginning of the Seven-Year War in 1756, the French and Spanish made several attempts to invade Portugal from the Middle Regions, but for various reasons their operations were delayed until 1762. However, neither country expected that instead of capturing the fortress, the 5,000 Spanish army was surrounded by more than 700 Portuguese soldiers and local farmers, and 2,500 were taken prisoner, forcing Spain to sign a ceasefire.
This time, seven years of victory, Marwan's military value and the bravery between the military and the civilian population made Malwan synonymous with the "Hero's Fort" for more than 200 years, even surpassing the city of Berta Legre, which ruled its capital.
After that, Portugal "responded" to the populace of the Malvão region, first building a Baroque cathedral that only the capital could have, establishing a bishop in the diocese that could be inhabited for a long time, and with the voluntary help of knights, building a strong enclosure and transforming the surrounding land into a garden for citizens to wander outside.
Portugal's first railway tracks had to pass through the Marvão region and were not to be more than 30 kilometres from the castle, while the reservoir was renovated and an electricity network was built to facilitate the local population.
However, due to its remoteness and the depression of the surrounding cities, the castle has also been hit hard, and since the 90s the population has been decreasing at a rate of one week to 3,000 people.
It sounds like a lot, but it's not just the shock of more than half of the people in its heyday, it's more of a massive loss of youth and labor, and more than two-thirds of the people in the city now live in neighboring towns, returning only occasionally for the holidays.
The Malwan residential area is a typical "red-roofed and white-walled" building, only ** street and the fence wall have a passage more than three meters long, and the rest is only about one meter and a half.
From the air, the planning of this area may seem messy, but in fact, it is the most rational urban planning: to ensure the quality of life of the residents, but also to ensure that all the residents can reach the scene of the battle in the shortest possible time.
Building a city on a rugged mountain peak is not an easy task in itself, especially if there are not enough troops and supplies, and the houses here vary in height, but there is one thing in common, that is, the windows and windows are made of granite, which is simple and practical compared to the white walls that have been repaired later.
Because there are so many houses, there are many paths in the community, and they are all very narrow, and you have to walk three or four mountain roads to get to the station of the town guard.
Due to the fierce battles of wartime, the castle and all the buildings of Marvão remain intact, like most villages in the 9th century, and walking inside is like stepping back in time, full of blooming flowers, indicating the yearning for a new life here.
Extending more than 300 meters along a slope at a 45-degree angle, you reach the highest point of the fortress, where the former military headquarters is located, from where you can overlook the entire mountain range and see all possible things clearly, which is why the Arab principalities have not been able to take it for so many years.
The post is surrounded on three sides by granite walls more than ten meters high, and when the attack range of modern firearms is very small, it is like an "iron wall", and the only way to cut off their supplies is to spend a lot of time and energy to transport their food here, on the one hand, because they are good at breaking through the defense line, and on the other hand, because the villagers at the foot of the mountain are helping behind.
In addition to the garrison post and the regular opening of the cathedral to the public, even the cistern needed to be approved.
According to locals, before the expansion of the Medical Knights, the volume of the old reservoir was less than 50 cubic meters, and all the water used by the residents was collected from rainwater, and even after expansion (including six reservoirs), it could not meet the water needs of thousands of people.
There is also an interesting food in the castle of Malwang, which can be translated as "reminiscences".
In times of war, all civilians and warriors had to be on high alert, while the women were in the rear to provide supplies, and they would not cook with a lot of fire, but with a simmer (the smoke would not be so much), so most of the time it would be half-cooked, and all the spices, vegetables, meats would be mixed together.
It is a very expensive food, cooked only by hand, and it is not too hard, and it tastes so good that it is even included in the list of 100 must-order foods in Portugal.