Portal:Portugal/Selected place archive

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September 4

Coimbra is a city in Portugal. The municipality has a population of 148,474 inhabitants, and over 430,000 inhabitants live in its metropolitan area made of 16 concelhos comprising a 3370 km² area. It is the district seat of Coimbra district (distrito de Coimbra) and capital of Centro region (região Centro).

This historic city is located in the central part of Portugal, 120 km south of Porto, 195 km north of Lisbon. One of Portugal's biggest crossroads, Coimbra is served by the A1, the main highway of Portugal. It is set by the Mondego River, about 40 km east of Figueira da Foz, a neighbour coastal city with several beaches, summer and seaport facilities on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. (continued...)

August 28

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August 14

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July 31

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July 17

Alcobaça (Portuguese pronunciation: [aɫkuˈβasɐ]) is a municipality and a city in the district of Leiria, in Portugal, formerly included in the province of Estremadura. The city grew along the valleys of the rivers Alcoa and Baça, from which it derives its name. The municipality has a total population of 55,269 inhabitants and a total area of 408.1 Km². The city itself has a population of 16.230 inhabitants.

The city of Alcobaça became notable after the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, decided to build there a church to celebrate the conquest of Santarém to the Moors, in 1147. The church later evolved into the Monastery of Alcobaça, one of the most magnificent gothic monuments in the country. In the church are the tombs of King Peter I and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro. Over the centuries this monastery had an important role on Portuguese culture.

A few kilometers to the north of Alcobaça is located the Monastery of Batalha, another wondrous Gothic building constructed in memory of a different important battle, that of Aljubarrota. To the west of Alcobaça is the well-known fishing village of Nazaré. To the south is Caldas da Rainha and the quaint medieval town of Óbidos that is an attraction for any tourists that enjoys a true glimpse of the past. Also to the south is the town of Porto de Mós with its fanciful rebuilt castle. (continued...)

July 3

Póvoa de Varzim is a Portuguese city in the Northern Region and sub-region of Greater Porto. It is the northernmost district in the Porto Metropolitan Area. The municipality has 81,94 km² of surface area, and is divided in twelve civil parishes with 63 469 inhabitants. It was firstly mentioned in 953 during the first county of Portugal, it received its foral from King Denis in 1308 and, later, a second one from King Manuel I in 1514. Its greater development was due to the fact it became the main harbour in northern Portugal in the 18th century and the construction of a railway connecting it to Porto in the end of the 19th century that postponed the city as the greatest tourist centre of the Northern Region due to its large beaches and because it is one of the few authorized gambling areas in Portugal. It also developed due to its textile and food industry.

June 19

Lusitania was an ancient Roman province approximately including current Portugal, except for the area between the rivers Douro and Minho, and part of modern day western Spain, the present autonomous community of Extremadura. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people. The Lusitani were strong warriors whose origins are uncertain.

The capital of Lusitania was Augusta Emerita (currently Mérida) in Spain. Modern Coimbra, was the Roman city of Aeminium, and near modern Condeixa-a-Nova, was the Roman city of Conímbriga. Conímbriga was not the largest city of Lusitania, but it is the best preserved. Built on a long-inhabited site, it was sacked by the Suevi in 468, and its inhabitants fled to Aeminium, which inherited its name and is nowadays known as Coimbra. Conimbriga's city walls are largely intact, and the mosaic floors (illustration, right) and foundations of many houses and public buildings remain. In the baths, visitors can view the network of stone heating ducts (the hypocaust) beneath the now-missing floors. Archaeologists estimate that, though excavations began in 1898, only 10 percent of the city has been excavated. (continued...)

June 5

Cividade de Terroso was an important city of the Castro culture in North-western Iberian Peninsula, located in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal. The city, known in the Middle Ages as Civitas Teroso, was built at the top of Mount Cividade, in the parish of Terroso, in Póvoa de Varzim, less than 5 km from the coast, near the eastern edge of the modern city.

Situated in the heart of the Castro region, the Cividade prospered due to its strong defensive walls and its location near the ocean, which facilitated trade with the maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean Sea. However, this trade eventually attracted Roman attention and the Cividade and the Castro culture perished at the end of the Lusitanian War, in which Rome's victory was secured through the murder of Viriathus, leader of the Lusitanians.

The settlement of Cividade de Terroso was founded during the Bronze Age, between 800 and 900 BC, as a result of the displacement of the resident people in the fertile plain of Beiriz and Várzea of Póvoa de Varzim. That date is supported by the discovery of egg-shaped cesspits, excavated in 1981 by Armando Coelho, where he collected fragments of four vases of the previous period to the establishment of the settlement of the Cividade. (continued...)

May 22

Braga ([ˈbɾaɣɐ]) is a city in northwestern Portugal. It is the capital of the district of Braga, the oldest archdiocese and one of the major cities of the country.

Braga, with a population of 155,000 in the urban area, is considered alongside Coimbra, the third most important city of Portugal outside Lisbon and Porto Metropolitan Areas. Including the rural parishes, the municipality has a total of 62 parishes and 170,858 inhabitants. Braga is also the center of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Minho with a population of 798,137 one of the fastest growing urban areas in the European Union. Under the Roman Empire, as Bracara Augusta, it was capital of the province Gallaecia.

The major industries in the municipality are construction, metallurgy and mechanics, software development and web design. The computer industry is growing rapidly. The most important University in Braga (and in the Minho Region) is the Universidade do Minho founded in 1973. In the city was established also, in 1967, the most important private university of Portugal, the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. (continued...)

May 8

Alentejo is a south-central region of Portugal. Its name's origin, "além do Tejo", literally translates to "beyond the Tagus". The region is separated from the rest of Portugal by the Tagus river, and extends to the south where it borders the Algarve. There are four sub-regions; the Alto (High) Alentejo, the Baixo (Lower) Alentejo, the Alentejo Central, and the Alentejo Litoral. Its main cities are Évora (region's capital), Portalegre, Beja, and Sines. It has 776,585 inhabitants (2001), and an area of about 26,000 km². It is one of five Regions of Portugal (NUTS II subdivisions). Today Lezíria do Tejo subregion, formerly belonging to Lisboa e Vale do Tejo region, is part of Alentejo NUTS II region.

The area is commonly known as the "bread basket" of Portugal, a region of vast open countryside with undulating plains and rich fertile soil. With very few exceptions all the major towns are mainly reliant on agriculture, livestock and wood. Topographically the countryside varies considerably, from the open rolling plains of the south of the Alentejo to the granite hills that border Spain in the north-east. To feed the water needs of this considerable area a number of public dams have been constructed. (continued...)

April 24

The Azores /ˈeɪ̯zɔɹz/ (Portuguese: Açores, [ɐˈsoɾɨʃ] or [ɐˈsoɾʃ]) are an archipelago of Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km from Lisbon and about 3,900 km from the east coast of North America.

The nine Azorean Islands extend for more than 600 km, and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. The vast extension of the islands defines an immense exclusive economic zone of 1.1 million km². The westernmost point of this area is 3,380 km from the North American continent. All of the islands have volcanic origins, though Santa Maria also has some reef contribution. The mountain of Pico on Pico Island, at 2,351 m in altitude, is the highest in all of Portugal. The Azores are actually the tops of some of the tallest mountains on the planet, as measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean. The islands are an autonomous region of Portugal. (continued...)

April 17

Porto (in English also Oporto; [ˈpoɾtu]), formerly Portucale, population 263,000 in 15 parishes, with 1,551,950 in the metropolitan area, is Portugal's second city. It is the seat of the Porto district and capital of the Norte region. It is situated in the north of the country, on the northern bank of the Douro River, just in from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Porto has a type of mediterranean climate, although its influenced by a cooler breeze from the Atlantic which make it distinguishably cooler than other Mediterranean climate cities but nonetheless during the peak of the Summer, especially in August, temperatures can reach 40°C.

One of Portugal's most internationally appreciated products is Port Wine. Its name comes from the fact that it ages in cellars in Porto's southern sister city Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the river Douro. Port Wine gets its distinctive taste from brandy that is added during the fermentation process. This additive causes fermentation to stop, allowing for much of the sweetness of the grape to remain intact. The results of this process were discovered quite by accident by British traders who added the brandy to the wine simply to fortify it for long sea voyages back to England. (continued...)

April 10

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April 3

The Madeira Islands (pron. IPA /mɐˈðɐjɾɐ/) is a Portuguese autonomous archipelago in the north Atlantic Ocean that lies between 32°22.3′N 16°16.5′W / 32.3717°N 16.2750°W / 32.3717; -16.2750 and 33°7.8′N 17°16.65′W / 33.1300°N 17.27750°W / 33.1300; -17.27750.

The Madeira Islands, known originally to the Romans as the Purple Islands, were rediscovered (accidentally) by Portuguese sailors and settled by Portugal in 1418. It is currently an autonomous region.

Positioned in the Atlantic Ocean, about 360 miles (580 km) directly west of Morocco, Africa, and 540 miles (870 km) southwest of Lisbon, Portugal. Madeira and Porto Santo are the only inhabited islands.

These islands are a popular year-round resort, famed worldwide for their Madeira wine, embroidery artisans, New Years' Eve celebrations with a spectacular fireworks show, a perfect climate, striking scenery and beautiful flowers. (continued...)

March 27

Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is the seat of the district of Lisbon and capital of Lisboa region. Lisbon has a population of 529,485 and its metropolitan area has a population of 2,665,000.

Lisbon is situated at 38°43' north, 9°8' west, making it the westernmost capital in mainland Europe. It is located in the west of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the point where the river Tagus flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The city occupies an area of 84.6 km². It is important to say that, unlike most major cities, the city boundaries are narrowly defined around the historical city perimeter. This gave rise to the existence of several administratively defined cities around Lisbon, such as Loures, Odivelas, Amadora and Oeiras, which in fact are part of the metropolitan perimeter of Lisbon.

The historic centre of Lisbon is built on seven hills, making some of the city's streets too steep for motor vehicles; the city is served by three funicular services and one elevator. The western side of the city is mainly occupied by the Monsanto Natural Park, one of the largest urban parks in Europe with an area close to 10 square kilometres.

March 20

The Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, (Portuguese: Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China, short RAEM) is a small territory on the southern coast of China. Administered by Portugal until 1999, it was the oldest European colony in China, dating to the 16th century. The administrative power (in Portuguese "potência administrante") over Macau was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1999, and it is now a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. Macau has played a unique and influential role in relations between China and the West, especially between the late 16th and 19th centuries. (continued)

March 13

Tomar also known in English as Thomar, is a city of some 20,000 and the seat of a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 351.0 km² and a total population of 43,054 inhabitants.

The city lies in the most fertile region of Portugal, and one of the most fertile in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula: the Ribatejo (lit. "by the river Tagus") meadows. It is located in the district of Santarém.

Tomar was founded as headquarters of the Knights Templar in Portugal in the 12th century and contains some of the most significant Templar monuments in Europe. Tomar was especially important in the 15th century when it was a centre of Portuguese overseas expansion under Henry the Navigator, the Grand Master of the Order of Christ, successor organization to the Templars in Portugal.

March 6

Coimbra is a city in Portugal. The municipality has a population of 148,474 inhabitants, and over 430,000 inhabitants live in its metropolitan area made of 16 concelhos comprising a 3370 km² area. It is the district seat of Coimbra district (distrito de Coimbra) and capital of Centro region (região Centro).

This historic city is located in the central part of Portugal, 120 km south of Porto, 195 km north of Lisbon. One of Portugal's biggest crossroads, Coimbra is served by the A1, the main highway of Portugal. It is set by the Mondego River, about 40 km east of Figueira da Foz, a neighbour coastal city with several beaches, summer and seaport facilities on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

February 28

Póvoa de Varzim is a Portuguese city in the Northern Region and sub-region of Greater Porto. It is the northernmost district in the Porto Metropolitan Area. The municipality has 81,94 km² of surface area, and is divided in twelve civil parishes with 63 469 inhabitants. It was firstly mentioned in 953 during the first county of Portugal, it received its foral from King Denis in 1308 and, later, a second one from King Manuel I in 1514. Its greater development was due to the fact it became the main harbour in northern Portugal in the 18th century and the construction of a railway connecting it to Porto in the end of the 19th century that postponed the city as the greatest tourist centre of the Northern Region due to its large beaches and because it is one of the few authorized gambling areas in Portugal. It also developed due to its textile and food industry.