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The Ribat of Arrifana, also known as Castelo da Arrifana, was a religious and military complex from the Muslim period, located in the municipality of Aljezur, in the District of Faro, in Portugal. According to Islamic sources, it was used as a convent for warrior monks, having started to be built around 1130 by Ibn Qasi, a Muslim leader from Silves. It was partially converted into a watchtower in the 14th century, which lasted until the 18th century. It was identified by archaeologists in 2001 in the ruins of Ponta da Atalaia. It is considered one of the main vestiges of the Moorish period in Portugal, having been classified as a National Monument in 2013.

Description

Location

Ribat da Arrifana is located on Ponta da Atalaia, a small rocky promontory, in the Vale da Telha area, in the parish and municipality of Aljezur, part of the District of Faro. The Ponta da Atalaia area was chosen mainly for reasons of strategic importance, as it allowed, on clear days, to monitor the coastal strip from Cabo de São Vicente to Cabo Sardão, in Alentejo. Furthermore, it was located in an area that at that time formed the border between the region reconquered by the Christians and the one that was still dominated by the Muslims, and at the same time it was far from Faro and Silves, which were controlled by the enemies of Ibn Qasi. On the other hand, that location also had advantages from a religious point of view, being located relatively close to a Alcaria or a place of great spiritual importance, in order to better spread both the Sufi message and the ideals of Ibn Qasi, which would be the beginning of a new theocratic government. Its coastal location, in an area located at the end of the known world, also meant the connection between land and sea, and served as a metaphor between the material and spiritual domains.

The beach, between cliffs of gray shale and white or golden limestone, eroded by the winds and waves, is part of the tourist region of the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina. There, at the mouth of the Aljezur stream, once navigable, on Ponta da Atalaia, bordering the town of Aljezur, in a dominant position over Arrifana beach, are the remains of a building, which local tradition calls Castelo da Arrifana, referring that they would be the remains of the residence of Abu Alcacim Amade ibn Husayn ibn Cassi, independent prince of the first kingdom of the Algarve, who would have left the capital, Silves, to dedicate himself there to contemplation and writing.

The strategic occupation of the region by the Muslims was determined by the provision of essential natural conditions for survival such as drinking water, fertile agricultural land and fishery products. The defense of that stretch of the Vincentian coast was essential at the time of the Christian reconquest of the Peninsula.

Protection and importance

The Ribat da Arrifana is a unique structure in the national territory, being probably the only religious complex from the Muslim period in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, in the entire peninsula, only one other Ribat has been identified, that of Guardamar, near Alicante. The importance of the Ribat of Arrifana also comes from the considerable amount of sources that survive about the complex and its founder, Ibn Qasi, being relatively well known the historical evolution of the Ribat, including the causes and dates of its construction and decline. The Ribat is considered the most important monument of its kind in the entire Peninsula, and its discovery has attracted the attention of several researchers across Europe. The archaeological site has since been visited by citizens of various Islamic nations, including diplomats and princes. The Ribat is also very visited by tourists.

The complex was classified as a National Monument by Decree No. 25/2013, of 25 July. It was the first archaeological remains to have that category in the municipality of Aljezur. In 2014, the state had still started the process for acquiring the land where the Ribat was located, despite having been planned within the scope of the works of Sociedade Polis Litoral Sudoeste.

Meaning and composition

A Ribat or Rîbat is a fortified complex that also had religious functions, serving as a base for warrior monks of Muslim origin, who took a vow of poverty. In this way, it had several religious buildings, such as a mosque, and others that had more military functions, such as a stable. The complex was organized in a hierarchical manner, in order to correspond to various levels of functionality and symbolism, with four large areas having been identified, with different functions, adapted to the situation of the land where they were located. The peninsula on which the Ribat was located was surrounded, on the land side, by a long wall, of which at least two parts were excavated.

The Ribat of Arrifana shares some characteristics with that of Guardamar and others in North Africa, such as the open urban organization, the lack of a defense wall, and the adaptation of the structures to the undulating terrain.

The set is completed by the Castle of Aljezur and the remains of some watchtowers in the region, which allowed the control and surveillance of that stretch of coast, as from there you can see from Sines to Cabo de São Vicente. In the context of the interior of the Algarve, the Ribat was part of a set of military structures related to Silves, which also included the Castle of Alferce.

Entrance and necropolis (Sector 4)

The entrance to the Ribat was on the southeast side, where there were several buildings, including two or three mosques, and perhaps it was in this area that the introduction to Sufi principles took place. There was also a necropolis on the southeast side, as can be seen from the existence of sixty-five tombs, seven of which have been fully investigated. These tombs have rectangular or trapezoidal shapes, but are of different sizes and constructions, some having been attached to the walls of the qiblas of the mosques in the entrance area. The graves had low tombs in the ground and were surrounded by shale walls, each grave was used for a single individual, who were buried in lateral decubitus, on the right side, from southwest to northeast, and with the face facing southeast , in the direction of Mecca. In addition to the tombs of Muslim origin, three were found that were Christian in orientation, which may have belonged to Christian fighters who fought as Islamists. The tombs had small anpigraph stelae, except for two of them, where larger texts had been engraved, and which were still in place. These epigraphic stelae are considered of great interest, since they are the only ones from the Islamic period found in their place of origin, in the entire Iberian Peninsula. According to archaeologist Rosa Varela Gomes, the necropolis was still in a good state of preservation, something unusual among structures of that type from the Islamic period. On the northern edge of the necropolis, there was a building that would probably have been used for washing and preparing the corpses for burial, and which had a workbench, a water tank and a tub that had been dug into the ground, and whose floor and walls were coated with dough. Next to the necropolis there was an area, identified as sector 4, which was separated by a wall, and where a Koranic school or madrasa was located, which had a large courtyard and several adjoining cells towards the southeast. The necropolis may have been surrounded by a wall.

Access to Ponta da Atalaia (Sectors 1 and 2)

In the western zone, where the peninsula narrowed, there was another zone of its own, classified as sector 1, which would probably be the most active part of the ribat, and which would serve as a control point for access to the Atalaia promontory. This would be the only way to access the point itself, which was naturally protected by the coastal cliffs. This access area was densely occupied by buildings, including four rectangular-shaped mosques, one of them large, which was compartmentalized and had the mihrab facing Mecca, on the same wall as the entrance portal. Several rectangular buildings were also identified, two of them larger, with courtyards and divided into several compartments, which would certainly be housing. Residential buildings of very similar characteristics were discovered in Salir Castle. A few meters away from the houses, towards the south, is sector 2, where there was a small mosque with several annexes, right next to the coastline, which would probably have been reserved for a figure of high importance.

Ponta da Atalaia (Sector 3)

At the top of the promontory, classified as sector 3, there was another group of buildings, including a mosque with a prayer wall and a circular minaret. That spot would probably be the holiest in the entire complex. This core was probably the first part of the Ribat to be built, and the mosque could have been used by the master, due to its symbolic location, and the presence of the minaret, which was used to call believers to their daily prayers. This minaret would most likely also serve to watch over the coast, a use it continued to have after the Christian reconquest, having been reused in the 14th century as a watchtower.

The walls of the buildings were made of plastered and whitewashed rammed earth on a foundation of masonry in schist, graywacke and sandstone, while the roofs were made of wood with straw tile, forming single-pitched roofs, or terraces in wood and raw earth. The floor of the buildings was on beaten earth.

Estate

A smaller amount of artefacts was found at the site than usual in residential contexts, which can be explained by the reduced period of occupation. Pieces related to various daily activities were found, such as the preparation and consumption of food, hunting and fishing, catching molluscs, and spinning and weaving, and others that point to a spiritual use, such as shale plaques epigraphed within the structure of the buildings, many candlesticks, some amulets, and various inscriptions of faith in God. The ceramic pieces found are fragments of bowls, jugs, pitchers, bowls and pots, whose simple style and decoration point to the interval between the 12th and 13th centuries. A glass bottle, cossours, loom weights, various objects in bone and stone, and others in metal, such as lead rolls and weapons, were also discovered. Feeding remains were also discovered, such as traces of molluscs. In the necropolis, parts of human skeletons were found.

History

Construction and decline

Ribat was founded by Ibn Qasi, an Islamic leader from Silves. Originally a customs official in that city, he decided to dedicate himself deeply to religion, having entered a zauia or azóia (Islamic hermitage) in Arrifana, to start a life of meditation and recollection, and offered half of his goods to the poorest. He asserted himself as a mahdi, and created a new religious political group, known as the murídino movement. He became involved in a Jihad (holy war) for control of the Southeast region of the peninsula, having fought against the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, which controlled the cities of Silves and Faro. Ibn Qasi developed the azoia with what was left of his possessions, turning it into a ribat, which would be the basis for his spiritual and military strength. The foundation of the Ribat itself was laid around 1130. The complex has gone through three distinct phases of expansion, as can be seen from the traces of expansion and renovation work on the buildings, most notably the largest mosque.

The Ribat reached great importance during Moorish rule, having been mentioned by several historians and geographers of that period, including Ibn al-Abbār, who mentioned that Ibn Qasi had retired to the monastery of Arrifana, which was located on the sea coast, and Yaqût, who in the 13th century described the area of ​​al-Rihana (Arrifana) as a state situated on the coastal strip to the north of Cape Algarve, later known as Cape São Vicente. Another important figure who mentioned Ibn Qasī was Alexandre Herculano, who identified him as an ally of the first Portuguese monarch, Dom Afonso Henriques. After a few years, the murídins assumed themselves as the greatest power in the region, having come to dominate in 1144 the taifa of Silves, the entire Algarve and part of Baixo Alentejo, defeating the forces of the Banu Al-Mallah family and the Almoravids . In 1151, Ibn Qasi attempted an alliance with the first Portuguese monarch, Dom Afonso Henriques, against Abde Almumine, lord of Gharb al-Ândalus, although it failed due to the assassination of Ibn Qasi that same year, in Silves. Due to the death of Ibn Qasi, the ribat was abandoned only a few years later. The Muridine movement continued for a few years after the death of its mentor, having maintained the square of Tavira until 1167.

Later occupation

In the 14th century, the old minaret was converted into a watchtower, which lasted until the 18th century, and which gave its name to Ponta da Atalaia. Later, two buildings were built on top of the ruins, in the southeast area, consisting of a rural house and a tax guard post.

In 1943, during World War II, the area of ​​Arrifana and Ponta da Atalaia was the scene of the Battle of Aljezur, between British and German planes.

Rediscovery

The original location of the Ribat da Arrifana has been lost, with several historians suggesting that it was located inside Castelo de Aljezur or at Forte da Arrifana, located close to the beach with the same name. There were several documentary references to the Ribat, but which, despite the local tradition, did not have material evidence associated with Islamic culture. Although at least since the 19th century the existence of ruins in the area of ​​Ponta da Atalaia has been recognized, it was only in 2001 that these were identified as being the ancient Ribat of Arrifana, by the couple of archaeologists Mário and Rosa Varela Gomes. Afterwards, several archaeological surveys were carried out at the site, with traces of stone and rammed earth buildings being found, including several mosques, a large necropolis, a prayer wall, the base of a circular minaret, a Koranic school (madrasa). Archaeological excavations began in 2002, under the guidance of Rosa Varela Gomes and Mário Varela Gomes.

In 2012, a gravestone was discovered, bearing the name Ibrāhīm bn Sulaymān bn Hayyān, who died in 1148, who could have been a pilgrim or a monk who died there, or a warrior who would have died in battle and then transferred to to Arrifana. On July 17, 2013, the Ribat was classified as a national monument, with the corresponding decree ordering the preservation of the ruins, both the original ones and those relating to the reuse of the complex in the 14th and 15th centuries, when the minaret was reused. It also determined the demolition of the ruins of two buildings built later, a tax guard post and a rural dwelling.

On July 22, 2014, Universidade Nova de Lisboa announced that archaeological research was taking place at the site, coordinated by Rosa Varela Gomes and Mário Varela Gomes, professors in the Department of History at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and archaeologists from the Institute of Archeology and Paleosciences at the same university. Anthropologists Nathalie Antunes Ferreira and Filipa Amado dos Santos, and several archeology students from the Faculty collaborated in the investigations. During the research, several graves were found, four of which still contained osteological remains, which would allow bioanthropological and ritual studies to be carried out. In order to be analyzed, the bone fragments were sent to the Faculty's Archeology Laboratory. In the total of the archaeological campaign, seven graves were excavated and seven skeletons were found, one of them belonging to a female individual, something considered unusual, given the nature of the Ribat, although she could have lived inside it. One of the main finds during the campaign was the discovery of a section of the wall, about 10 m long. This campaign was financed by the Swiss foundation Max van Berchem. Contrary to what happened in previous years, the 2014 campaign did not have the support of the Gulbenkian Foundation or the municipality of Aljezur. Until 2014, only a third of the Ribat area had been excavated, as the archaeological campaigns carried out up to that point had only been of short duration.

In June 2015, the Associação Sócio Cultural de Aljezur and the Direcção Regional de Cultura do Algarve organized a national meeting of artists in Aljezur, which included a walking tour through the Ribat da Arrifana.

In August 2016, the Minister of Culture, Luís Filipe Castro Mendes, visited the Ribat da Arrifana, and was in a meeting with the representative in Portugal of the Swiss foundation Aga Khan Trust For Culture, the mayor of Aljezur, José Amarelinho, members of the Association for the Defense of the Historical and Archaeological Heritage of Aljezur, the regional director of Culture of the Algarve, and the director of Cultural Goods of the Directorate-General for Culture. At that time, the Aga Khan foundation showed interest in forming a partnership with the Portuguese government, in order to continue archaeological research in the Ribat, and build an interpretation centre. However, the process was at an impasse due to the resistance of the owner of the land where the Ribat was located, with whom negotiations had already been going on for several years, without success. The owner demanded the amount of 1.2 million Euros for the land, an amount considered excessive by the government, since that area was located in the natural park and right next to the cliff, which made it impossible to build a tourist resort. The minister also admitted that, if the negotiations were not successful, the government could proceed with the expropriation of the land, in accordance with the classification of the Ribat as a national monument. The ruler also classified the Ribat as a national treasure, due to its location, and its historical, patrimonial and cultural value. In turn, the representative of the Aga Khan Foundation in Portugal, Commander Nazim Ahmad, underlined that the enhancement of this monument would be not only important at a municipal and national level, but also at an international level, being of interest to higher education institutions, and to archaeologists and other researchers of Islamic culture. In this way, he defended the construction of an interpretation and study center, which, in addition to informing tourists, would also support archaeologists, students and other researchers.

In August 2018, the Moroccan historian Ahmed Tahiri launched his book Aljezur and the Ribāt al-Rayhâna in the history of Gharb al-Andalus, at the Parish Council of Aljezur. This work, published by the Association for the Defense of the Historical and Archaeological Heritage of Aljezur, was written in Portuguese and Arabic, and sought to study in depth various aspects of Aljezur and the Ribāt da Arrifana, in the geographical context of Gharb Al-Andalus. In that year, the land where the Ribat was located was still private property, which prevented more rigorous studies and the development of the complex. In November of that year, the secretary of state for culture, Ângela Ferreira, spoke about investments in the culture of the Algarve, having pointed to the Ribat da Arrifana as one of the works to start in 2019, and stated that the issue of the Ribat was being addressed between the Ministry of Culture and the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage. In an interview in March 2019, Adriana Freire Nogueira, regional director of Culture of the Algarve, informed that the intervention in the Ribat da Arrifana, worth 500 thousand Euros, was one of the six considered urgent in the monuments of the Algarve, until 2020.

On July 10, 2019, a cooperation protocol for the investigation and preservation of Ribat da Arrifana was signed between Universidade Nova de Lisboa, the Ministry of Culture, the Aljezur municipality and the Aga Khan Trust For Culture association. That protocol had the purpose of investigating, preserving and valuing the complex, and promoting it to the public, through the construction of an interpretive centre. In addition to maintaining the monument itself and its assets, the landscape context in which the Ribat is inserted should also be preserved.