(National-UAE) Mouraria, a trendy neighbourhood in Lisbon’s city centre, still bears the name of its former inhabitants, the Moors — Muslims who lived in the Iberian Peninsula in modern Spain and Portugal, and once walked its maze of narrow and winding streets and tightly packed alleys. Next to Mouraria stands Alfama — from the Arabic word Al hamma, meaning “hot springs” — a neighbourhood that centuries ago gave shelter to the city’s large Jewish community.
The Muslim and Jewish areas were once spread from the imposing historical castle that crowns one of Lisbon’s highest hills to the Tagus River, but today only the Moorish names remain. Synagogues and mosques were destroyed or converted into churches when both religious minorities were expelled from Portugal in the late 15th century.
To atone for the religious persecutions, in 2015, the Portuguese government passed a law that allows descendants of those expelled to seek citizenship. Redress, however, was only offered to the Jewish community. Descendants of Muslims were not included in the law.
