São Bartolomeu de Messines

São Bartolomeu de Messines, also referred to as Messines, is a town and civil parish in the municipality of Silves, in Algarve region, Portugal. The population of the civil parish in 2011 was 8,430, in an area of 239.87 km2.Traces of the Paleolithic and Neolithic vestiges have shown that this place was inhabited since the beginning of humanity. Although the Roman occupation has long been attested, it was between the years 2009 and 2014, during excavations in this parish, that was discovered a Roman villa, now known as the Roman Villa of Corte. This villa was the first building complex of the Roman period, located in the Algarve barrocal area, and the most important structure of this period, excavated in the Algarve region. The discovery of objects imported from southern Italy and Greece, allow researchers to assume that the people who lived in this place would have a high social status, showing some prosperity, and the discovery of materials related to textile production also make them assume that this would be one of the activities developed there. Under Muslim rule from the 8th century to the 12th century, it was previously known as Mussiene prior to its recapture from the Moors by the Kingdom of Portugal during the Reconquista, in 1189. During the period before the conquest by the troops of king Sancho I of Portugal and the crusaders, the parish of São Bartolomeu de Messines was then called Mussiene, a toponym of Arabic origin which derives from the Arabic word mâzin, which means complimentary. The use of adjectives to name places was not a common practice but there are other examples in Portugal such as the city of Elvas which derives from smiley in Arabic, Ourique from the Arabic word for verdant or Alte from the Arabic word for elegant. Unfortunately, the medieval church did not reach modern times which may be explained by the peripheral and interior location of the village, thus being distant from the main centers. The old town is mainly of 16th-century origin and its small, narrow cobbled streets are to be seen north of the main Church of São Bartolomeu de Messines at the end of the town's main street.

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