Belmonte (Portugal)

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Belmonte [[Image:{{{image_flag}}}|140px|Flag of Belmonte]] Municipal flag Municipal coat of arms
Location
- Country	Portugal
- Region	Centro
- Subregion	Cova da Beira
- District or A.R.	Castelo Branco
Mayor	Amândio Melo
- Party	PS
Area	118.8 km²
Population
- Total	7,662
- Density	65/km²
No. of parishes	5
Coordinates	40º21'N 7º21'W
Municipal holiday	April 26
Website: http://www.cm-belmonte.pt/

Belmonte (pron. IPA: [bɛɫ'mõt(ɨ)]) is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 118.8 km² and a total population of 7,662 inhabitants.

The municipality is composed of five parishes and is located in the district of Castelo Branco.

The present mayor is Amândio Manuel Ferreira de Melo, elected by the Socialist Party.

The municipal holiday is April 26.

Belmonte is also the birth place of Pedro Álvares Cabral, the navigator who discovered the land of Vera Cruz, now Brazil. In the Church of Santa Maria it can still be found the iconic image statue of Nossa Senhora da Esperança (Our Lady of Hope), which accompanied Cabral in his voyage. The image was,till 1834, in the Monastery of Nossa Senhora da Esperança, now transformed in a modern charm hotel.

[edit] Belmonte Jews

Belmonte is home to the last remaining community of marranos, known as ‎Belmonte Jews who officially returned to Judaism in the 1970s, and opened a synagogue in 1996. In 2003, the Belmonte Project was founded under the auspices of the American Sephardi Federation, in order to raise funds to acquire Judaic educational material and services for the community, who now number 160-180. In the summer of 2006 the American Sephardi Federation ceased to have the Belmonte Project under its auspices.

A Jewish Museum of Belmonte (Museu Judaico de Belmonte) opened on 17 April, 2005.

[edit] Parishes

• Belmonte (formerly Santa Maria and São Tiago, extinct in 1831)
• Caria
• Colmeal da Torre
• Ínguias
• Maçaínhas

[edit] External links

• Town Hall official website
• American Sephardi Federation newsletter, Spring 2003
• Photos from Belmonte