Legend mingles with history in this quiet town among oak and olive trees.
Salúquia, daughter of a Moorish governor is said to have thrown herself from the
castle tower on learning that her lover had been killed. From this tragedy the
town acquired its name – Moura, the Moorish girl. The town’s old Moorish quarter
is an area of narrow streets and low, whitewashed houses.

Even after the Reconquest in the 12th century, Moura’s frontier position left it
open to attack. A siege in 1657, during the War of Restoration, levelled much of
it. The 13th-century castle  survived, only to be blown up by
the Spanish in 1707 – just a skeletal keep and wall remain.

Nossa Senhora do Carmo , near the castle, was founded in 1251,
the first Carmelite convent in the country. Its two-storey cloister shows Gothic
and Renaissance influence and the chancel ceiling frescoes are early 18th
century.