The little spa of Moura (altitude:180m/1,062ft) , some 60km/37mi northeast of Beja on the left bank of the Guadiana, has alkaline mineral springs in its park that are particularly called upon in the treatment of rheumatism. Known by the Romans as Nova Civitas Arruccitana, the town owes its present name (Moura = Moorish girl), and its coat of
arms - a dead girl below the castle walls - to a young Moorish maiden called Salúquia. She was the daughter of the town's leading citizen and is supposed to have plunged from the castle battlements after her betrothed and his followers had been ambushed and slain by the Christians on the eve of the wedding. The Christians had then donned the clothing of their ambushed enemies to trick their way past the guards to capture the castle.