São Pedro da Afurada
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So Pedro da Afurada (or simply Afurada) is a locality in the city of Vila Nova de Gaia in Portugal. It has 3,442 inhabitants and a population density of 3,442 people per square kilometer (as of 2001). It is an urban parish(freguesia) in the city of Gaia. Afurada is located at the end of the Douro river, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is a traditional fishing village and was created as such. Its patron saint is Saint Peter, hence the name So Pedro, the equivalent in Portuguese.
Afurada's people seem to be very devoted to St. Peter and every year there is a religious holiday in St. Peter's name (on 29 June), where people make processions, pray, and party throughout the night. It is customary for people to eat sardines in that week, baked with the typical Broa de Avintes, a type of corn bread made in the nearby village of Avintes. There is plenty of fireworks too.
During religious processions people carry the images of saints, sometimes in real size, for other people to worship and make offerings to the saints. People usually dress in their traditional fishermen and fisherwomen clothes to pay respect for their patron saint, Peter. Other popular saints include Our Lady the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Carmo, and St. Michael the Archangel, images of which are placed at the centre of the village. However, St. Peter's image is central at this place, the former location of a church in his name that was destroyed in a flood.
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