| Babe | |
| Civil Parish (Freguesia) | |
| Official name: Freguesia de Babe | |
| Country | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Region | Norte |
| Subregion | Alto Trás-os-Montes |
| District | Bragança |
| Municipality | Bragança |
| Localities | Babe, Laviados |
| Center | Babe |
| - elevation | 798 m (2,618 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| Length | 7.88 km (5 mi), Southwest-Northeast |
| Width | 5.85 km (4 mi), Northwest-Southeast |
| Area | 25.61 km2 (10 sq mi) |
| Population | 396 (2001) |
| Density | 15.42 / km2 (40 / sq mi) |
| LAU | Freguesia/Junta Freguesia |
| - location | Rua dos Olmos, Babe, Bragança |
| President Junta | Alberto Manuel Sousa Pais (PS) |
| President Assembleia | Francisco António Berça (PS) |
| Timezone | WET (UTC0) |
| - summer (DST) | WEST (UTC+1) |
| ISO 3166-2 code | PT- |
| Postal Zone | 5300-421 Babe |
| Area Code & Prefix | (+351) 273 XXX XXX |
| Patron Saint | São Pedro |
| Parish Address | Rua dos Olmos 5300-421 Babe |
| Wikimedia Commons: Babe | |
| Statistics from INE (2001); geographic detail from Instituto Geográfico Português (2010) | |
Babe is a Portuguese civil parish in the municipality of Bragança. In 2001 this hilltop parish had less than 396 inhabitants, in an area of 25.61 km² (its population density was 15.42 residents per kilometre square.
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A. Pereira Lopo, writing in 1898, alludes to the greatness of the Castro of Babe, which had been an important station during the Roman era.[1] This includes many monuments located in its shadow, including altar stone dedicated to Jupiter (with the inscription "I.O.M.") and funerary stone with "A1 e EQVITIAL (ae) II" in base relief, with the vestiges of three figures.[1] Lopo also characterized this mark as millenarian of origin, highly fragmented that served as a funerary marker, and also included a reference to Emperor Trajan.[1]
There is not any consensus as to the origin of Babe, although some suggest the Arab Babi, which means small door (Portuguese: portinha), while others suggest that the name originated from the Roman era.[2] Situated on the Roman road from Braga to Castela, remnants of the Roman settlement are can be found in funerary crypts and copper era implements.[2] Popular tradition suggests that a road was constructed for the passage of Elizabeth of Aragon that passed through or alongside the village. Remnants of an ancient roadway were alluded to in the millenarian mark, and local toponymy “Porto Calçado”.[1] It is likely that this was a Roman via, and supported by similar markers along the Rua de Colmenero.[1]
The modern parish of Babe, dates to the medieval period, when it was referred to as Sancti Petride Babi, which it would continue to remain until the 13th century Inquirições” of King Afonso III.[1] The documents associated with the King's inventory are the first records of a parochial institution (1258), although it is likely that the local church had existed prior to these records. The church dedicated to São Pedro (Portuguese: Saint Peter), which, already on the decline, was substituted by the new Church of Santa Maria de Laviados, later to the invocation of Nossa Senhora da Conceição.[1]
The Treaty of Babe, between John I of Portugal and John of Ghent, the Duke of Lancaster, was signed on 26 March 1387.[3]
Babe's evolution has been affected by the population emigration and aging of the community.
A distance of 10.5 kilometres from the municipal seat of Bragança, Babe occupies an area accessible by the EN218, or along the EN308 from Gimonde. Its located on the southern portion of the Montesinho Natural Park (Portuguese: Parque Natural de Montesinho, a territory that is a mountainous plateau along the Spanish border of northern Portugal. Its topography (on average 750 metres altitude) is bisected by the Igrejas River, as well as many of its tributaries.
The parish is bordered by Gimonde, Palácios, Caravela, São Julião and Laviados.