Castanheira de Pera

Castanheira de Pera
coat of arms map
Basic data
Region :	Centro
Sub-region :	Region of Leiria
District :	Leiria
Concelho :	Castanheira de Pera
Freguesia :	União das Freguesias de Castanheira de Pêra e Coentral
Coordinates :	40 ° 0 ′  N , 8 ° 12 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 0 ′  N , 8 ° 12 ′  W
Postal code :	3280-044
Castanheira de Pera district
flag map
Residents:	3191 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	66.77 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	48 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities :	1
administration
Administration address:	Câmara Municipal de Castanheira de Pera Praça Visconde de Castanheira de Pera, Apartado 39 3280-017 Castanheira de Pera
President of the Câmara Municipal:	Fernando Lopes ( PS )
Website:	www.cm-castanheiradepera.pt

Castanheira de Pera district

Castanheira de Pera , also Castanheira de Pêra , is a small town (Vila) in Portugal with 3091 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2011).

On September 29, 2013, the municipalities of Castanheira de Pêra and Coentral were merged to form the new municipality of União das Freguesias de Castanheira de Pêra e Coentral . Castanheira de Pêra is the seat of this newly formed community.

history

The exact origins of Castanheira de Pera are obscure. The historian Manuel Sousa Coutinho mentions a first hint in his História de São Domingo , according to which a village called Castanheira was founded before the 15th century. The first official mention of the place took place in 1467 in an arbitration verdict of King D. Afonso V on territorial regulations around Coentral . Castanheira de Pera belonged to the former municipality of Santa Maria de Pedrógão before it became an independent municipality in the Figueiró dos Vinhos district in 1502 . In 1691 the independent municipality of Coentral was also established.

Both communities belonged to the Pedrógão Grande district, which was created in 1895 or finally in 1899 . The municipality of Castanheira de Pera, which was previously characterized exclusively by agriculture and sheep breeding, was rich in pastures and water, and saw the settlement of its first wool processing factory in 1860 and has since developed increasingly industrially, not least through the energy generated by the Ribeira de Pera river . Since then, increasing efforts to make Castanheira de Pera the seat of its own district were intensified in 1913 with reference to steadily increasing tax revenues and population numbers. On July 4, 1914 , Castanheira de Pena finally became a district town, including the municipality of Coentral.

Legend

A legend written in 1629 tells of the princess Peralta, daughter of the ruler Arunce, who lived in 72 BC. . BC in the castle Castelo de Arouce in Lousã hiding from armed conflicts kept. At the urging of her lover Quintus Sertorius , a Roman general, she and her entourage moved to the town of Sertago. Her nurse Antigona died on the way. A tombstone was placed on her with the inscription "ANTÍGONA DE PERALTA AQUI FOI DA VIDA FALTA" (German for example: Antigona de Peralta went here forever, she is missing from life). The legend goes on to say that the goddess Venus was angry with the princess and therefore sent a lightning bolt that turned the entire entourage into the mountains and the princess into a mermaid who from then on lived in the spring water of the mountains. The wet nurse's tombstone also shattered and only the parts ANTIG ... A DE PER .. could be read, from which the name Castanheira de Pera originated in the legend.

Sights and culture

Tourism, especially in the hiking and nature tourism with facilities of the turismo rural , has gained in importance after the decline of the traditional local wool processing and textile industry. Various historical industrial companies are now listed, including the Fábrica de Têxteis da Várzea, founded in 1874 and abandoned in 1997 . Since then, the nature of the mountains of the Serra da Lousã has been the main attraction in the district. Hiking trails are set up. The natural amusement park Prazilândia , which opened in 2003, should also be mentioned.

The district's architectural monuments include historic houses, fountains, former public buildings such as the town hall, schools and the post office, and a large number of sacred buildings . In addition, the historic town center is a listed building as a whole.

The district has several museums. In the Casa do Tempo , completed in 2001 by the architect Paulo Pedroso , a permanent exhibition on the press history of the place and changing exhibitions and cultural events with a regional focus can be visited. Also in 2001, a museum for olive oil production was opened in the former Lagar do Corgo oil mill . The Casa do Neveiro museum of local history has been open to visitors in Coentral since 1996 in the house where Manuel Agostinho Barreto, who later became Bishop of Funchal was born . In 1991 the municipal library, Biblioteca Municipal, moved to the house where Bissaya Barretos was born.

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  At the Praia fluvial Corga river swimming pool

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  The Praia das Rocas bathing complex in the Prazilândia amusement park

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  The Véras waterfalls

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  Old well houses in the mountains around Castanheira da Pera

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  The chapel of Santo António da Neve

administration

The circle

Castanheira de Pera is the seat of a district of the same name ( concelho ) in the Leiria district . The district has an area of ​​66.8 km² and 3091 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2011).

The neighboring districts are (starting clockwise in the north): Góis , Pedrógão Grande , Figueiró dos Vinhos and Lousã .

Since its foundation in 1914, the district consisted of only two parishes ( Freguesias ):

• Castanheira de Pera
• Coentral

According to the law, after the municipal elections on September 29, 2013, the two municipalities were combined to form the new municipality of União das Freguesias de Castanheira de Pêra e Coentral , which is now congruent with the district.

In addition to the two main towns, there are a number of smaller towns in the municipality:

Bolo Botelhas

Moredos Pera

Sapateira Torgal

Troviscal Vilar

Population development

Population in the district of Castanheira de Pera (1920–2011)
1920	1930	1960	1981	1991	2001	2011
5,839	6.116	5,739	5,137	4,442	3,733	3.191

In the rural areas of Portugal, there has been a steadily increasing trend towards emigration to urban areas and abroad since the middle of the 20th century. In Castanheira de Pera, this trend was also intensified by the parallel closures of the textile factories.

Municipal holiday

• July 4th

Town twinning

•  Germany : Leimen (Baden) (since 1993)

economy

The development company Ribeirapera SA is owned by the city and is particularly active in local economic development. It is based in the local industrial area Zona Industrial de Safrujo .

The district, which was originally characterized by grazing livestock and agriculture, developed increasingly industrially from the second half of the 19th century, especially in the textile industry. Industrial decline then set in in the 1980s. Since then, tourism has grown in importance.

sons and daughters of the town

• Manuel Agostinho Barreto (1835–1911), Bishop of Funchal
• Luís Alves Tomás (1871–1931), entrepreneur and co-founder of the Racionalismo Cristão religious community in Brazil
• Fernando Baeta Bissaia Barreto Rosa , known as Bissaya Barreto (1886–1974), doctor, university professor, politician and Freemason
• Ulisses Cortês (1900–1975), lawyer and politician, 1965–1968 Minister of Finance of the Estado Novo regime
• João Carvalho (born 1997), football player

Web links

Commons : Castanheira de Pera  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Map of the Freguesia Castanheira de Pera at the Instituto Geográfico do Exército
• City Council website (Portuguese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística
2. ↑ Overview of code assignments from Freguesias on epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
3. ↑ ^{a b} www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística
4. ^ Publication of the administrative reorganization in the Diário da República gazette of January 28, 2013, accessed on October 1, 2014
5. ↑ www.verportugal.net , accessed on November 5, 2013
6. ↑ www.monumentos.pt , accessed on November 9, 2013
7. ↑ Information on the circular routes on the district website (port.), Accessed on November 9, 2013
8. ↑ www.monumentos.pt , accessed on November 9, 2013
9. ↑ Publication of January 28, 2013 (PDF; 2.4 MB) in the Legal Gazette of the Republic of Portugal, the Diário da República (see Artigo no. 9 and in the list on p. 33), accessed on November 9, 2013
10. ↑ www.anmp.pt , accessed on November 9, 2013
11. ↑ Ribeirapera page on the district website, accessed on November 9, 2013