Alcáçovas

Alcáçovas
Basic data
Region :	Alentejo
Sub-region :	Alentejo Central
District :	Évora
Concelho :	Viana do Alentejo
Coordinates :	38 ° 24 ′ N , 8 ° 9 ′ W Coordinates: 38 ° 24 ′ N , 8 ° 9 ′ W
Residents:	2111 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	268 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	7.9 inhabitants per km²
Postal code :	7090-026
politics
Mayor :	Sara Cristina Cupido Carmo Grou Sim Sim Pajote ( PS )
Address of the municipal administration:	Junta de Freguesia de Alcáçovas ; Praça da República, 9 ; 7090-026 Alcáçovas
Website:	www.evora.net/jfalcacovas

Alcáçovas is a small town ( vila ) and a municipality in the Portuguese region of Alentejo .

The place is the center of Arte chocalheira , a traditional craftsmanship of animal bells manufacture, 2015 in the list of urgent conservation need of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO was registered.

Historically, the place played a role several times as a stately residential city. The many typical desserts from Alcáçovas, mostly attributable to the Doçaria Conventual , have predominantly their origin in this environment.

history

Clock tower in the historic center of Alcáçovas

Documents suggest that the place as part of the Roman province of Lusitania under the name Castreleucos (roughly: White Castles) was a place on the Roman road from Ebora Liberalitas Julia (today Évora ) to Salacia (today Alcácer do Sal ).

From 711 AD the place was conquered by the Arabs and was part of Al-Andalus until the Christian conquest in the 13th century . The origin of today's place name (from the Arabic al-Qasr for fortress) is traced back to the Moors , who are likely to have rebuilt the two old Roman fortifications here.

Today's place was probably repopulated as part of the settlement policy after the Christian Reconquista . D. Martinho I, Bishop of Évora , gave Alcáçovas the first town charter on August 17, 1258, making it a vila (at that time the administrative and legal seat, now a small town). King D. Dinis confirmed the town charter from Évora on April 25, 1279 and had the two local fortresses rebuilt around 1309, one of which was converted into a royal residence. The former garrison chapel of the second complex, which continued to be used as a fortress, was preserved as today's parish church.

In the royal residence, today mostly known as Paço dos Henriques , the Treaty of Alcáçovas was signed on September 4, 1479, which ended the War of the Castilian Succession . The parents of the Portuguese King D. Manuel I married here in 1447, and the marriage of the parents of Queen Isabella I of Castile was negotiated here around 1447. King D. João II signed his will here on September 20, 1495, with which he determined his cousin D. Manuel I as his successor.

The place remained the seat of an independent district until the administrative reforms after the Liberal Revolution from 1821 and the following Miguelistenkrieg from 1834. As a result, the Alcáçovas district was dissolved in 1836 and has since been a municipality of the Viana do Alentejo district.

As the population grew, a larger school, the Escola Oficial, was opened in Alcáçovas in 1888 . The census of 1890 already determined a number of over 600 children up to 15 years of age. In 1924 the new hospital was opened. Alcáçovas was not connected to the nationwide power grid until 1956, but this was then celebrated with a large folk festival.

administration

Alcáçovas is the seat of a municipality of the same name ( Freguesia ) in the district ( concelho ) of Viana do Alentejo in the Évora district . The community has an area of 268 km² and 2111 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2011). The population density is 7.9 inh / km².

Population development in the municipality of Alcáçovas (1864–2011)
1864	1878	1890	1900	1911	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1981	1991	2001	2011
2,044	2 108	2 295	2,391	3 027	3 350	3 606	4,384	4,541	4,314	2,651	2 480	2,329	2,088	2 111

The following villages, estates and places are located in the municipality:

Alcáçovas
Estrada da Cruzinha
Horta Rossio do Pinheiro
Monte Chão da Casinha
Monte da Várzea
Monte Dois Moinhos
Monte Poço Novo

Monte Ratinho
Mount Ribeira de Évora
Monte São Geraldo
Monte Vale de Mendro
Monte Vale Prazeres
Vale da Rata
Vale de Alcácer

Square in the center of Alcáçovas

economy

The agriculture with cork oaks, olive trees and wheat fields as well as cattle breeding is the main source of income in the place and the surrounding area.

Attractions

There are a number of architectural monuments in Alcáçovas, such as:

Biblioteca Municipal de Alcáçovas (City Library)

Convento de Nossa Senhora da Esperança (17th century monastery)

Coreto de Alcáçovas ( bandstand from 1930)

Edifício, Igreja e Hospital da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Alcáçovas (Hospital with church and main building of the local Santa Casa de Misericórdia , opened in 1551 )

Ermida de São Geraldo (17th century chapel)

Ermida de São Pedro dos Sequeiras (16th century chapel)

Ermida do Senhor da Pedra (18th century chapel)

Horto do Paço das Alcáçovas , also Horto do Paço dos Henriques and Horto do Paço Real da Vila (manor house founded in the 13th century, rebuilt in the 15th century)

Igreja Paroquial de Alcáçovas , also Igreja de São Salvador (parish church from the 15th century, first built in the 12th century)

Jardim Cruz e Silva (gardens, built in 1957)

Moinho de Água da Madeira (Watermill)

Moinho de Água do Freixo (Watermill)

Moinho de Água Novo , also Moinho Novo (water mill)

Moinho de Bigadurilhas (windmill)

Núcleo urbano da vila de Alcáçovas (historic town center as a whole)

Paço dos Henriques , also Paço das Alcáçovas or Paço Real da Vila (royal residence founded in the 13th century, rebuilt in the 15th century, later a local mansion)