Constância

Constância
coat of arms map
Basic data
Region :	Centro
Sub-region :	Médio Tejo
District :	Santarém
Concelho :	Constância
Coordinates :	39 ° 29 ′  N , 8 ° 20 ′  W Coordinates: 39 ° 29 ′  N , 8 ° 20 ′  W
Residents:	993 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	8.83 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	112 inhabitants per km²
politics
Mayor :	João Carlos Baião da Silva ( CDU )
Address of the municipal administration:	Junta de Freguesia de Constância R. Vicente Themudo 2250-061 Constância
Constância County
flag map
Residents:	4056 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	80.36 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	50 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities :	3
administration
Administration address:	Câmara Municipal de Constância Estrada Nacional 3, nº 13 2250-028 Constância
President of the Câmara Municipal:	Júlia Maria Gonçalves Lopes de Amorim ( CDU )
Website:	www.cm-constancia.pt

Constância [ kõʃˈtɐ̃siɐ ] is a small town (vila) in Portugal . Portugal's national poet Luís de Camões (1524–1580) is said to have lived here for a time, which is one of the reasons for the nickname “Place of Seduction and Poetry” ( Terra de sedução e de poesia ) with which Constância presents itself.

View of Constância at the mouth of the Zêzere (from left) into the Tagus

history

Monument des Camoes in Constãncia

Located at the mouth of the Zêzere in the Tejo , a village developed here from the increasing river navigation, fishing and boat building, under the place name Punhete. Between 1546 and 1547 the poet Luís de Camões is said to have lived here as an exile and wrote some of his poems. King D. Sebastião raised Punhete to a small town ( Vila ) in 1571 and made it the seat of an independent district ( concelho ).

During the Napoleonic invasions , the French general Junot took the small town in 1807 and caused severe damage to the town hall and the city archives. The city archive was also damaged by the frequent flooding of the Tejo and the relocation of the archive to Abrantes after the district was dissolved twice in 1868 and 1895, so that the history of the place is not completely documented today. The independent district of Constância has existed without interruption since January 17, 1898. Queen D. Maria II had previously (1836) changed the name from Punhete to Constância, in recognition of the constant loyalty of the place to the liberal partisans in the Liberal Revolution of 1822 and the following Miguelistenkrieg .

With the arrival of the railroad and new royal road connections in the second half of the 19th century and the later built dams in the Rio Zêzere, river navigation and subsequently Constância lost its importance.

administration

The circle

Constância is the administrative seat of a district of the same name ( concelho ) in the Santarém district . On June 30, 2011, the district had 4056 inhabitants on an area of ​​80.4 km².

The neighboring areas are (starting clockwise in the north): Abrantes , Vila Nova da Barquinha and Chamusca .

The following municipalities ( Freguesias ) are in the Constância district:

Constância County

local community	Population (2011)	Area km²	Density of population / km²	LAU code
Constância	993	8.83	112	140801
Montalvo	1,275	12.81	99	140802
Santa Margarida da Coutada	1,788	58.72	30th	140803
Constância County	4,056	80.36	50	1408

Population development

Population in Constância County (1801–2011)
1801	1849	1900	1930	1960	1981	1991	2001	2004	2011
1583	2526	3034	3248	4077	3949	4170	3815	3796	4058

Municipal holiday

• Easter Monday

Town twinning

•  Fondettes , France (since 1998)
•  Wiesbaden-Naurod , Germany (in preparation)

economy

The arrival of the railroad and the new royal roads in the 19th century, and the subsequent construction of dams in the Zêzere, increasingly changed the rural and river-related traditional economic structures in the district. Today the district is particularly positioned as a local recreation area, for example through the Parque Ambiental nature park and the forests and river banks in the district. Agriculture continues to play a role in the more rural district areas, especially the cultivation of vegetables and fruit, and olives for olive oil production are also important.

The industrial area in the municipality of Montalvo is home to the most important private employers in the district. The military facilities in the particularly wooded municipality of Santa Margarida, which are the largest base of the Portuguese armed forces , should also be mentioned.

traffic

Constância is located on the Linha da Beira Baixa railway , with a stop in the municipality of Santa Margarida da Coutada . Until the end of passenger traffic in 2012, the Linha do Leste trains also passed here .

The place is connected to the country's motorway network via the A23 motorway.

Picture gallery

• 

  The Igreja da Misericórdia in the historic town center

• 

  Inside the Igreja da Misericórdia

• 

  Alleys in the historic center of Constância

• 

  The pelourinho, symbol of the city charter from 1571

• 

  On the banks of the Tagus in Constância

• 

  The main church, Igreja Matriz de Constância

• 

  River bank at Constância

Web links

Commons : Constância  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Map of the Freguesia Constância at the Instituto Geográfico do Exército
• Official website of the city administration

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. ↑ ^{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. ↑ ^{a b} History page of the circle  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from the city administration website, accessed March 5, 2014  
5. ^ Home page of the City Archives website , accessed on March 5, 2014
6. ↑ www.anmp.pt , accessed on March 7, 2014