Alvorninha
| Alvorninha | ||||||
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| Basic data | ||||||
| Region : | Centro | |||||
| Sub-region : | Oeste | |||||
| District : | Leiria | |||||
| Concelho : | Caldas da Rainha | |||||
| Coordinates : | 39 ° 23 ′ N , 9 ° 2 ′ W | |||||
| Residents: | 2987 (as of June 30, 2011) | |||||
| Surface: | 37.6 km² (as of January 1, 2010) | |||||
| Population density : | 79 inhabitants per km² | |||||
Alvorninha is a Portuguese parish ( Freguesia ) in the Caldas da Rainha county and Leiria district , in the historic Estremadura province . It has an area of 37.6 km² and 2987 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2011). The community includes 82 villages and hamlets spread across the entire municipality . The main town of Alvorninha is 11 km east of Caldas da Rainha and 27 km south of Alcobaça . As one of the 13 cities of the Coutos de Alcobaça until 1834, Alvorninha belonged to the secular dominion of the Abbey of Alcobaça , which in 1153 the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques (1109–1185), the abbot of the French Cistercian monastery Clairvaux , had donated to Bernhard von Clairvaux , an area of about 500 km² between the Atlantic and the Serra dos Candeeiros mountains . In 1745 Alvorninha still had 500 independent properties ( fogos for ovens) with around 2,000 inhabitants. Today around 30 properties are grouped around the remains of the old town.
Early history
In Alvorninha, traces of a very early settlement can be found in the form of a prehistoric tomb ( dolmen ) in the district of Antas de Baixo . In Latin literature there are also references to an early monastery that is said to have existed in Alvorninha even before the area was donated to the Cistercians in 1153 . This would go back to the time before because of the Moorish rule on the Iberian Peninsula, which began in 711 . The name indicated with its prefix AL on a Moorish origin. On the way of the liberation struggle against the Moors, which Afonso Henriques led from north to south ( Reconquista ), he reached Alvorninha on March 12, 1143, when he is said to have inflicted another defeat on the Moors. This story is presented extensively in azulejos from 1940 on a staircase in front of the parish church.
Dominion of the Abbey of Alcobaça
Alvorninha was possibly the oldest city of the Coutos de Alcobaça, the secular dominion of the abbey of Alcobaça founded in 1153. Already in 1210 she received a charter from Portugal's second king Dom Sancho I (1154–1211) , which was handed out by the abbot of the monastery, D. Fernando Mendes . From this, the abbey deduced that Alvorninha belonged to its area, although according to the deed of donation by Afonso Henriques most of the area of Alvorninha was south and thus outside the border line there. After that, the area belonged to Óbidos . In 1329 King Afonso IV (1291-1357), who was already a thorn in the side of the increase in power of the Abbey of Alcobaça , demanded Alvorninha from the abbey back. From this a dispute developed, which was finally decided in 1358 by his son and successor Dom Pedro I (1320-1367) in favor of the abbey. In 1360/1361 Dom Pedro had sarcophagi set up in the abbey church for himself and his lover Inês de Castro, who was murdered by his father Afonso IV. In 1355 , where he had Inês reburied. He proved to be a great patron of the abbey and also restored all its rights to the cities of the Coutos de Alcobaça and also to Alvorninha, which his father had tried to circumcise.
Almofala
The monks of Alcobaça founded one of their first farms ( granjas ) in the area of Alvorninha, in Almofala , from which the first of their agricultural schools arose, which they later set up in various places in their area. Ruins of this courtyard are still preserved in Almofala. The district of Almofala goes back to Roman settlements. The name itself comes from the Arabic period and, according to legend, derives from the words Álamo (Arabic root: tree) and fala (Portuguese: speaks). In Almofala, a court tree is said to have stood in Moorish times, under which the delinquents were sentenced and executed. One day the tree uttered the name of someone sentenced to death and declared his innocence. The convicted man was then released.
Monuments
Alvorninha had already received the city charter in 1210, which was renewed and expanded in 1514 as part of the general city reform in the Coutos de Alcobaça by King Manuel I (1469–1521), according to another source, Alvorninha should not have the new city statute until 1527 under Manuel's successor King João III. (1502–1557). At that time, the cities of the Coutos de Alcobaça had greater self-government and their own lower jurisdiction (which was exercised by two judges). To the continuing jurisdiction of the abbey and the opposite her current pay tribute, however, reminded of each city a plan drawn up in front of the main church pillory (portug .: Pelourinho what arms-sinner column is called). As in many cities of the Coutos, the stake in Alvorninha also disappeared in the 19th century after the reign of the abbey ended in 1833/34. The main church Mariae Apparition ( Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Visitação ) fell victim to the earthquake of 1755 (which went down in history as the Lisbon earthquake ), as probably large parts of the city, and was not fully restored until 1930. The Manueline entrance portal and another Manueline gate in the interior are still preserved from the old church . The Church of Mercy ( Igreja da Misericórdia ), which in 1605 replaced the chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit from the founding period, has also been partially preserved . A hospital also belonged to it. a. Lepers are said to have been cared for. The first general welfare institutions in all cities of the Coutos de Alcobaça date from this period. In 1940 a cross from 1640 was placed in front of the Mariae Apparition Church, which had also disappeared in the 19th century.
Reminder sheet
In the urban area of Alvorninha, in the neighboring town of Casal do Rei , the abbey had built an archway as the Arco da Memória (memorial arch ), which stood on the south-eastern corner of its territory. Another memorial arch was built on the inland north-eastern corner of the dominion in the Serra dos Candeeiros mountains. An inscription in the memorial arches stated that behind it was the area that King Afonso Henriques had given to the order in 1153. The memorial arch in Alvorninha was torn down in 1912, two years after the introduction of the republic in Portugal, by angry republicans as a sign of royal and ecclesiastical rule and its parts were used as a substructure for a new road built at that time. The figures were to be brought to the district town of Caldas da Rainha on a horse-drawn cart, where they would then be lost. In 1981 a replica of the memorial arch was created with the large participation of the population, but without statues, but it was finally installed in the district capital Leiria . A plaque was attached at the site of the historic site. The memorial arch in the Serra dos Candeeiros is still preserved.
Modern times and the present
After the state closure of the monasteries in Portugal in 1834 , Alvorninha was incorporated into the Caldas da Rainha district in 1836. Today the place has receded to a small settlement, only the churches remain of the former city. The population of almost 4,000 inhabitants is distributed among the 84 suburbs and hamlets. Unless she can find work in the towns of Caldas da Rainha and Benedita, she lives mainly from agriculture, especially fruit growing, cattle breeding and forestry. The region is struggling with considerable structural problems and fruit and wine plantations that are overgrown can be found everywhere in the formerly cultivated land. The former Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo (1936–2014) was born in Alvorninha .
Sons and daughters of the church
- José da Cruz Policarpo (1936–2014), Patriarch of Lisbon
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística
- ↑ Overview of code assignments from Freguesias on epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
- ↑ Maria Zulmira Albuquerque Furtado Marques: Por Terras dos Antigos Coutos de Alcobaça , Alcobaça 1994, page 97, footnote
- ↑ Arco da Memória, portug., GC1A001 NG5 - Arco da Memoria (Traditional Cache) in Leiria, Portugal created by NSilva & Gorete
literature
- Maria Zulmira Albuquerque Furtado Marques: Por Terras dos Antigos Coutos de Alcobaç , Alcobaça 1994, pages 90-99
Web links
- Map of the Freguesia Alvorninha at the Instituto Geográfico do Exército
- Story of Alvorninha ( Memento of January 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese)
- Caldas da Rainha county page in Portuguese
