Santarém, Portugal

Santarém
Municipality

Cabaças tower, formerly part of the city's fortifications.

Flag

Coat of arms
Coordinates: 39°14′N 08°41′W / 39.233°N 8.683°W / 39.233; -8.683Coordinates: 39°14′N 08°41′W / 39.233°N 8.683°W / 39.233; -8.683
Country  Portugal
Region Ribatejo
Subregion Lezíria do Tejo
Intermunic. comm. Lezíria do Tejo
District Santarém
Parishes 18
Government
  President Ricardo Gonçalves (PSD)
Area
  Total 552.54 km2 (213.34 sq mi)
Population (2011)
  Total 61,752
  Density 110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Time zone WET/WEST (UTC+0/+1)
Website http://www.cm-santarem.pt

Santarém (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɐ̃tɐˈɾɐ̃j]) is a city and municipality located in the district of Santarém in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 61,752,[1][2] in an area of 552.54 km².[2][3] The population of the city proper was 29,929 in 2012.

The Mayor is Ricardo Gonçalves (PSD). The municipal holiday is March 19, day of São José.

History

Main portal of Igreja da Graça
The Tagus River viewed from Portas do Sol

Since prehistory, the region of Santarém has been inhabited, first by the Lusitani people, and then by the Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and later Portuguese Christians. Of the various legends related to the foundation of Santarém, the most famous tells of the Visigoth Saint Iria (or Irene), who was martyred in Tomar (Nabantia) and whose uncorrupted body reached Santarém. In her honour, the name of the town (then known by its Latin name Scalabis) would later be changed to Sancta Irene, from which Santarém would eventually be derived.

The foundation of the city is attributed to the Romans, who occupied the region in the 2nd century BC and named the city Scalabis. During the Roman period, Scalabis was an important commercial post in the mid-Tagus region, and was the administrative capital of one of the regions (Conventus Escalabitanus) of Lusitania. Julius Caesar creates a military camp in Santarém in 61 BC. The city takes at this time the designation of Scallabis Praesidium Iulium.

The III century crisis and the decline of the Western Roman Empire affected the civitas, and in the V century the town was conquered by the barbarians(Vandals and Alans). In 460, the Visigoths, led by Sunerico, gain the city and expelled the alans.[4]

After the period of Visigoth domination, Santarém was taken in the 8th century by the Arabs, under whose rule the city became an important cultural centre. Important Arab personalities born in Santarém (or Shantarin, in Arabic) include the poet and historian Ibn Bassam (died 1147) and the poet Ibn Sara (1043–1123).

The period of Muslim domination was finished in 1147 by the first King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, who conquered the city on March 15. According to the chronicles, the King and a small army managed to take the city after some men climbed the walls during the night and opened the gates. The story of the conquest of Santarém is told in a heroic tone in the medieval chronicle De expugnatione Scalabis, which celebrates and justifies the power of the first Portuguese King. From the military point of view, the conquest of Santarém and, in that same year, of Lisbon were crucial steps in the Reconquista of Portugal.

The most notable Almohad ruler, Abu Yaqub Yusuf (patron of Averroes and Ibn Tufail), died in Santarém while trying to recapture it during the siege of 1184.

After the reconquest of the Santarém, the city was frequently visited by the successive monarchs and many feudal parliaments (Cortes) were held in Santarém. King Fernando I, in particular, was very fond of the city and chose to be buried in the Convent of Saint Francis (his tomb is now in the Carmo Museum in Lisbon). The city was one of the most important in medieval Portugal, as attested by its large number of monasteries and its royal palace (no longer standing but was located where the Cathedral currently stands). There are still enough examples of Gothic buildings in the city for it to be known as the "Capital of the Portuguese Gothic".

In the 15th century, during the period of Portuguese maritime explorations, expeditions like the conquest of Ceuta (1415) were planned in the royal palace of Santarém. Many important personalities related to this historical time are buried in the churches of Santarém. Pedro de Meneses, first governor of Ceuta (1415–1437) after the Portuguese conquest, is buried in a magnificent Gothic tomb in the Church of the Grace (Igreja da Graça). In the same church is buried Pedro Álvares Cabral, the navigator that discovered Brazil in 1500.

The following centuries represented periods of decadence for Santarém. The earthquake of 1755 hit the city hard, and many historical monuments were lost. During the Napoleonic invasions (early 19th century) the city was invaded and pillaged.

In the second half of the 19th century many improvements reached Santarém, like running water, gas light, the building of a bridge over the Tagus and the railway in 1861. In the 20th century, the infrastructure of the city (education, housing, commerce) continued to improve and the economy of the city remained mainly dedicated to the production of agricultural goods.

Geography

Cityscape of Santarém

The city of Santarém stands is situated on a plateau, located on the right bank of the Tagus River 65 kilometres (40 mi) northeast from Lisbon. This city, the urbanized portion, includes the former-parishes of Marvila, São Nicolau, São Salvador and Várzea, united in the green paper on administrative reform.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 18 civil parishes (freguesias):[5]

  • Abitureiras
  • Abrã
  • Achete, Azoia de Baixo e Póvoa de Santarém
  • Alcanede
  • Alcanhões
  • Almoster
  • Amiais de Baixo
  • Arneiro das Milhariças
  • Azoia de Cima e Tremês
  • Casével e Vaqueiros
  • Gançaria
  • Moçarria
  • Pernes
  • Póvoa da Isenta
  • Romeira e Várzea
  • Santarém (Marvila), Santa Iria da Ribeira de Santarém, Santarém (São Salvador) e Santarém (São Nicolau)
  • São Vicente do Paul e Vale de Figueira
  • Vale de Santarém

Climate

Santarém, Portugal has a Mediterranean climate (Csa).

Climate data for Santarem
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.6
(69.1)
24.8
(76.6)
29
(84.2)
32.2
(89.9)
36
(96.8)
43.5
(110.3)
43
(109.4)
40.5
(104.9)
40.2
(104.4)
33.6
(92.5)
26.5
(79.7)
23
(73.4)
43.5
(110.3)
Average high °C (°F) 14.3
(57.7)
15.8
(60.4)
18.4
(65.1)
19.6
(67.3)
22.3
(72.1)
26.7
(80.1)
30
(86)
30.2
(86.4)
28
(82.4)
22.7
(72.9)
18
(64.4)
15
(59)
21.75
(71.15)
Average low °C (°F) 4.9
(40.8)
6.2
(43.2)
7.3
(45.1)
8.6
(47.5)
10.6
(51.1)
13.3
(55.9)
15.2
(59.4)
15.3
(59.5)
14.1
(57.4)
11.6
(52.9)
8.4
(47.1)
6.5
(43.7)
10.17
(50.3)
Record low °C (°F) −4.4
(24.1)
−3.5
(25.7)
−3.5
(25.7)
0
(32)
4
(39.2)
7
(44.6)
9
(48.2)
8.5
(47.3)
7
(44.6)
−0.5
(31.1)
−3.7
(25.3)
−3.2
(26.2)
−4.4
(24.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 91
(3.6)
79
(3.1)
51
(2.0)
66
(2.6)
56
(2.2)
23
(0.9)
8
(0.3)
5
(0.2)
36
(1.4)
84
(3.3)
91
(3.6)
104
(4.1)
696
(27.4)
Average precipitation days 11.9 11.6 8.9 10.8 8.8 4.6 1.7 1.7 5.1 10 10.9 12.7 98.7
Average relative humidity (%) 87 85 83 77 76 71 67 68 73 80 87 85 78.3
Source: Weatherbase[6]

Sister cities

Architecture

Santarém city centre has several monuments, including the largest and most varied ensemble of gothic churches in Portugal. These include fine examples of transitional RomanesqueGothic, mendicant (plain style derived from the mendicant orders) and late (flamboyant) Gothic. In addition, the city has nice examples of Manueline, Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque architecture.

Notable citizens

Statue of Captain Salgueiro Maia in Santarém

See also

References

  1. Instituto Nacional de Estatística
  2. 1 2 excluding the parish Pombalinho, that changed from the municipality of Santarém to Golegã in 2013
  3. Direção-Geral do Território
  4. http://www.santaremdigital.com/historia-santarem
  5. Diário da República. "Law nr. 11-A/2013, page 552 108" (pdf) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  6. "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Santarem, Portugal". Weatherbase. 2011. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.
  7. Singer, Isidore; Adler, Cyrus (1907), "Moses Navarro", The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, p. 193, retrieved 5 June 2015
  8. Kayserling, Meyer (1867). Geschichte der Juden in Portugal [History of the Jews in Portugal] (in German). Leipzig: Oskar Leiner. p. 25. Retrieved 5 June 2015. During his stay at the court of Lisbon, he made the acquaintance of then Portuguese Chief Rabbi Don Moses from Santarem, who was the king's personal physician, and who took on the name Navarro by royal permission. Während seines Aufenthaltes am Lissaboner Hofe lernte er den damaligen portugiesischen Oberrabiner D. Moses aus Santarem, der auch zugleich des Königs Leibarzt war und mit königlicher Erlaubniss den Beinamen Navarro führte, persoehnlich kennen.
  9. Fuller biography at Portuguese Wikipedia url=https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Moura
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