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Alcácer do Sal is an historical town crowned by a castle that is now turn into a Pousada (hotel). The town is cluster around the banks of the river Sado. The river is a bit muddy giving a strange almost ‘lila’ color.
The town’s name comes from the Moorish 'al qasr' meaning ‘the castle’, and the sal refers to the age-old production of salt in this area.
The castle is of Muslim origin, although built on land once used by the Romans as early as the 6th century for a fortification of their own. The dozens of imposing towers are mainly built in hardy dressed stone, though a couple are mud walled, as is part of the encircling wall, thus constituting one of the few remaining examples of mud wall used for this purpose.
Also of interest in the town are the Roman remains, discovered in the 1980’s, and the nearby nature reserve of the Sado Estuary with its wetlands and array of animals and birds.