Salouquia Tower

Category: Military Architecture > Tower

District: Beja > Moura > Moura > Quinta de Santo António da Pipa

Location

The Saluquia Tower stands in the city of Moura, located in Baixo Alentejo. It is found in the area known as Quinta de Santo António da Pipa, a place that integrates into the city's urban landscape. Its striking presence invites exploration of the surrounding area and immersion in the local heritage.

A Historic Presence

The Saluquia Tower is a vestige of the ancient castle that once dominated this landscape. Built using taipa, an ancient building technique common in southern Portugal, the tower displays the color of the earth itself, as if it were a natural extension of the Alentejo soil. Over the centuries, this structure has withstood the ravages of wars and the forces of nature, particularly the great earthquake that shook the region, remaining a silent witness to time.

The Legend of Saluquia

The Saluquia Tower is inseparable from a legend that deeply marked the history and identity of Moura. This narrative is so central that the tower itself, along with the figure of the Moorish maiden Saluquia, is immortalized in the city's coat of arms. Tradition says that, in a time of confrontations between Moors and Christians, a young Moorish maiden named Saluquia, captivated by the songs of a disguised Christian knight, found herself entangled in a story of forbidden love. Although promised to a Saracen warrior, the knight's beauty and audacity won her heart, symbolized by a small perfumed stone he offered her. However, fate wove a tragic end: after the Christian victory and their entry into the castle, Saluquia, seeing her beloved disguised and associated with the brutality of the conquest, believed she had been deceived. In despair and convinced she had given her heart to the wrong person, she climbed to the highest point of the tower and threw herself off, ending her life. It is said that the stone the knight kept, once white, turned red with the spilled blood, forever sealing the memory of this tragic story.

Symbol and Cultural Narrative

Beyond its architectural value, the Saluquia Tower is an important cultural icon, reflecting the richness of Alentejo's oral traditions. The legend of Saluquia offers multiple interpretations, particularly the curious perspective that, in some stories from southern Portugal, popular tradition demonstrates a certain empathy for Arab culture and people. This aspect suggests a fusion of narratives and a connection with the region's historical influences. Some see in the figure of Saluquia traits of the enchanted Moorish maiden, a mythological being who, through her singing, seduces men, adding a layer of mysticism to this already fascinating story.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt