Castro Marim

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Castro Marim
coat of arms map
Castro Marim coat of arms
Castro Marim (Portugal)
Castro Marim
Basic data
Region : Algarve
Sub-region : Algarve
District : Faro
Concelho : Castro Marim
Coordinates : 37 ° 13 ′  N , 7 ° 27 ′  W Coordinates: 37 ° 13 ′  N , 7 ° 27 ′  W
Residents: 3267 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 79.35 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 41 inhabitants per km²
Castro Marim district
flag map
Flag of Castro Marim Location of the Castro Marim district
Residents: 6747 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 300.85 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 22 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities : 4th
administration
Administration address: Câmara Municipal de Castro Marim
Rua Dr. José Alves Moreira, 10
8950 - 138 Castro Marim
President of the Câmara Municipal: Dr. José Fernandes Estevens ( PSD )
Website: www.cm-castromarim.pt

Castro Marim (ancient: Aesuri ) is a small town ( Vila ) and a district ( Concelho ) in Portugal with 3267 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2011).

history

Finds prove a prehistoric settlement of the place. The place known as Aesuri was part of the Roman province of Lusitania and the end point of the Roman road from Pax Iulia (now Beja ). The following Germanic tribes left little traces. In the course of the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula from 711, the Moors rebuilt the local castle. After changing conquests during the Reconquista , Paio Peres Correia finally conquered the place in 1242.

In 1277 King Alfonso III. rebuilt the castle and gave the place named after the castle Castro Marim first city rights ( Foral ). From 1319 to 1356 this was the seat of the Order of Christ , the successor organization to the forbidden Knights Templar. After the move of the Order of Christ in 1356, the place experienced a decline. Only with the first conquests in North Africa at the beginning of the Portuguese expansion (Ceuta 1415) did the place gain new importance. King Manuel I renewed the town charter in 1504 and restored the castle.

In the course of the Restoration War for the independence of Portugal (1640-1668) brought the strategic location of the place further increase in importance, and another fortress was built. At Lisbon earthquake of 1755 the city experienced some damage, and he then continued to grow outside the walls.

Culture and sights

The district's sandy beaches, such as Praia Verde or the quieter Praia da Alagoa , but also the town's castle are among the main attractions for visitors. An archaeological museum in the castle is dedicated to the history of the place. From the castle walls you can see the surrounding area and the nature reserve Sapal de Castro Marim , a wetland area with a diverse bird population.

The architectural monuments of the district include mills (port .: Moinhos ), the cemetery and the train station of Castro Marim, historical public buildings and archaeological finds, as well as numerous sacred buildings , such as the 16th century neo-Manueline - Baroque main church ( Igreja Matriz ) by Castro Marim, the Igreja Paroquial de Nossa Senhora dos Mártires .

The municipal library Biblioteca Municipal and the Casa da Música with its music school, various rehearsal rooms and the headquarters of the Banda Filarmónica de Castro Marim are further cultural locations.

The river landscape along the Guadiana and the historic town centers of Castro Marim and Odeleite are also protected . A large number of hiking trails are laid out in a circle, including many thematically oriented, such as the Almond Tree Route (PR8), the Knight Order Route (PR5) or the Goat Path Route (PR7). The Castro Marim salt flats are also worth seeing.

The castle

The medieval castle called Castro Marim is located about four kilometers north of Vila Real de Santo António , opposite the Spanish city ​​of Ayamonte . The Castro covers a hill on a branch of the Guadiana into which the Ribeira da Rio Seco flows. Originally a now silted up bay reached as far as the hill of the city of Castro Marim.

Excavations in the courtyard in the 1980s revealed the stratigraphy of a large number of walls from different centuries. A large fortification wall from the beginning of the 4th century. v. BC was built by a population that, judging by the ceramic finds, had close contacts with the Eastern Mediterranean region, as shown by shards of Attic red-painted ceramics. Numerous readings from the urban area, which go back to the end of the Bronze Age , show that the hill was a settlement before.

After the castle, which was rebuilt by the Arabs , was destroyed during the Reconquista , King Alfonso III ordered. in 1277 it was rebuilt. In 1321, the Knights Templar who had fled France moved in and expanded the fortifications. Until the move to its expanded headquarters in Tomar in 1356, the castle of Castro Marim was the actual seat of the previously founded Templar successor organization Christ Order .

Every year at the end of August, a medieval market with knight games is held in the castle .

From 1641 a second castle, the Forte de São Sebastião , was built on another hill on the outskirts . It was created in connection with the Restoration War (1640–1668), through which Portugal restored its independence from Spain.

Sports

The
Estádio de Castro Marim stadium

The Grupo Desportivo, Recreativo e Cultural Leões do Sul Futebol Clube , or Leões do Sul FC (English: Lions of the South), founded in the early 1950s as a football club , is the most important sports club in the district. He plays a variety of sports including soccer and futsal , roller hockey and roller skating, swimming, mountain biking , and pilates training . In addition, it offers opportunities for leisure activities such as snooker and table football , sometimes in an organized form, and also organizes tournaments in them. In addition, it sees itself as a cultural association. He runs a theater group and organizes regular folk festivals, for example to commemorate the Carnation Revolution (April 25, 1974). A small club museum and documentation center of Leões do Sul FC has been set up in the clubhouse .

The football team of Leões do Sul FC , which has been playing under-class since its inception, play their home games in the Estádio de Castro Marim stadium , as does the União Desportiva Castromarinense football club , which also only takes part in under-class football competitions in Portugal .

Castro Marim district

Coat of arms of the Castro Marim district

Castro Marim is the seat of a district of the same name that borders on Spain to the east . The neighboring areas are (starting clockwise in the north): Alcoutim , Vila Real de Santo António , Tavira ; in the south the district borders on the Atlantic Ocean.

The following municipalities ( Freguesias ) are in the Castro Marim district:

Castro Marim district
local community Population
(2011)
Area
km²
Density of
population / km²
LAU
code
Altura 2,195 11.10 198 080404
Azinhal 522 68.16 8th 080401
Castro Marim 3,267 79.35 41 080402
Odeleite 763 142.24 5 080403
Castro Marim district 6,747 300.85 22nd 0804

Population development

Population in the Castro Marim district (1801–2011)
1801 1849 1900 1930 1960 1981 1991 2001 2011
5 020 4 874 8 308 9 402 9 992 7 297 6 803 6 593 6 747

Municipal holiday

  • June 24th

traffic

The town is connected to Lagos , Faro and Vila Real de Santo António by the Linha do Algarve railway , and to Ayamonte (Spain) by the Ponte Internacional do Guadiana motorway bridge. With exit 18 (Castro Marim / Vila Real de Santo António) it is connected to the A22 motorway and the country's trunk road network.

Castro Marim is integrated into the national bus network of Rede Expressos .

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Commons : Castro Marim  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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. a b Overview of code assignments from Freguesias on epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
  3. www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística
  4. www.verportugal.net , accessed on March 2, 2013
  5. ^ Lydia Hohenberger, Jürgen Strohmaier: Portugal. 2nd edition, DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2009, p. 383.
  6. www.monumentos.pt , accessed on March 2, 2013
  7. ditto
  8. ditto
  9. ditto
  10. www.cm-castromarim.pt , accessed on March 2, 2013
  11. ^ Hans-Peter Burmeister: DuMont art travel guide: Portugal. 3rd edition, DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2008, pp. 333f.
  12. www.verportugal.net , accessed on March 2, 2013
  13. ^ Association website (port.), Accessed on March 2, 2013