Mouraria is one of Lisbon's oldest districts. It contains a tangled street layout just as in Alfama, which has remained since the times of the Moors. The Arabs withdrew into this quarter after Lisbon was conquered by the Portuguese - a ghetto for people of different faiths arose which at that time was located outside of the city gates. In the 19th C. prostitution and fado, which at this time was considered to be indecent, brought the quarter a bad name.
Now Mouraria is an extremely neglected, poor part of the city. Renovation of houses, which are threatened with falling into ruins, and an improvement in the living standards of the inhabitants of Mouraria has only begun recently. In contrast very grandiose buildings are being constructed on the edge of the quarter: this difference is felt most acutely when leaving the modern shopping center at the Largo Martim Moniz and turning into the immediately neighboring little alleyways of Mouraria.
The quarter is still today quickly associated with fado, which has been heard in the streets here throughout the last century. The Casa de Severa at Largo da Severa 2 was the home of the legendary fadista Maria Severa Onofriando, who died aged 26 on November 30, 1846. There is a plaque in her memory and a stylized fado guitar can be seen on the newly surfaced road. The memory of the singer is also kept alive in the pub called "Os Amigos da Severa" (the Friends of Severa). Another great fado interpreter, Fernando Mauricio, was born in house no. 1B.
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