The Pousada
Alcácer do Sal (official name
Hotel D. Afonso II)
is a luxury hotel situated in a centuries-old castle that sits on a hill
overlooking the river Sado.
Over the previous 5000 years, the site
has been occupied by Phoenicians, Arabs, and Romans.
Before the Roman occupation it was
called Eviom. The Romans called it Salatia Urbs Imperatoria.
Alcácer also was a capital city for the
Visigoths.
The first king of Portugal tried to
conquer it in 1158, but failed. It later came under Portuguese
comntrol in 1217. In the 1500s the castle had no military
purpose any longer, and so became a Carmelita de Aracelli convent
during the 16th century.
