The Portuguese national television network RT2 broadcast a report on the archaeological site ‘Alto da Vigia’ (Colares, Sintra), where the remains of a medieval Ribāṭ exist. This is a fortification and/or a centre for spiritual meetings and retreats in the context of Islam, especially Sufi mysticism.
On the same site, a Roman temple previously stood. Moreover, in the 16th century, the site deserved the attention of the Portuguese humanist Francisco da Holanda. It is indeed a place and a series of vestiges that reveal the multicultural and multireligious (Roman, Islamic and Christian, in this case) legacy in Portugal over the centuries. Of great importance for contemporary and community memory, the multicultural heritage is a strategic object of study and dissemination at LusoGlobe and the Science of Religions area at Lusófona University.
In the report, one of the scientific researchers explaining the characteristics of Ribāṭ is Professor Fabrizio Boscaglia, a member of LusoGlobe and vice-director of the Master's degree course in Science of Religions at Lusófona University. He is joined by Dr Alexandre Conçalves, archaeologist at the S. M. Odrinhas Museum (Sintra).