Mafra (Portugal)

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Mafra
coat of arms map
Mafra coat of arms
Mafra (Portugal)
Mafra
Basic data
Region : Lisboa
Sub-region : Lisbon metropolitan area
District : Lisbon
Concelho : Mafra
Coordinates : 38 ° 56 ′  N , 9 ° 20 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 56 ′  N , 9 ° 20 ′  W
Residents: 17,986 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 47.95 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 375 inhabitants per km²
politics
Address of the municipal administration: Junta de Freguesia de Mafra
Rua da junta de freguesia
2640-500 Mafra
Website: www.jfmafra.pt
Mafra County
flag map
Flag of Mafra Location of Mafra County
Residents: 76,685 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 291.66 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 263 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities : 11
administration
Administration address: Câmara Municipal de Mafra
Praça do Município
2644-001 Mafra
President of the Câmara Municipal: Eng.º José Maria Ministro dos Santos ( PSD )
Website: www.cm-mafra.pt

Mafra is a small town ( vila ) in Portugal , 40 km northwest of Lisbon. The city is the seat of a district ( concelho ) with 76,685 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2011). The place is best known for its monumental palace, the Palácio Nacional de Mafra .

Redesigned Terreiro D. Joao V. with Palácio Nacional (2016)

history

Finds show that the area has been settled since the Paleolithic , particularly in the municipality of Encarnação . The clam heap in the beach town of Praia de São Julião , in the municipality of Carvoeira, should also be mentioned . The first fortified settlements were built here in the Neolithic Age (e.g. in Cheleiros ), and some dolmens have been preserved to this day. The most important archaeological finds in the district, however, date from the 1st to 4th centuries. The Roman road from Sintra to Peniche ran here, some of the bridges are still standing. Due to its fertile soil, today's district was probably an important agricultural community in the city of Olisipo (now Lisbon ). The area was likely to have been of particular importance for the production of wine , olive oil and vegetables, as it was also suitable for transport connections to the city through roads and watercourses that were navigable until the Middle Ages.

The Visigoths conquered the area from the 5th century AD, only to be subdued and expelled from 711 following the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors . The Arabs ruled here until 1147 , when Portugal's first king, D. Afonso Henriques , conquered the Arab town. In 1189 Mafra received city rights for the first time.

During the reign of King D. Manuel I , who renewed Mafra's city rights, numerous buildings were built that are characterized by the Manueline style.

King João V vowed to build a monastery should the long-awaited offspring be born to him. After the birth of his daughter, he had the important baroque palace and monastery complex with basilica built between 1717 and 1730 , today's Palácio Nacional de Mafra . The facility is of enormous dimensions (approx. 1200 rooms, 40,000 m² floor space), and thus of larger dimensions than Escorial in Spain. A quarter of the gold of the former colony of Brazil was used for the construction . Armies of up to 50,000 workers were employed in the construction of the palace, with great effort and 1400 fatalities, and under the supervision of 7,000 soldiers. The building of the Convento was processed by the Nobel Prize winner for literature José Saramago from the point of view of the common people in his novel Das Memorial ( Portuguese : O Memorial do Convento , 1982).

In the Jardim do Cerco gardens

Culture, sights and sports

The palace is Mafra's most famous building, including its extensive historical library, which alone contains 40,000 volumes from the 16th and 18th centuries. The entire complex - palace, basilica, monastery, Cerco garden and hunting ground (tapada) - was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2019 . In October there is an annual classical music festival near the monastery .

The processions during Lent have preserved many of the Baroque features. They are among the most important and original cultural events in Portugal.

There are numerous other architectural monuments in the district , including sacred buildings , historical public and private buildings, and gardens. The Neolithic Tholos of Tituária is located on a hill near the village of the same name, east of Mafra.

The 819 hectare Tapada Nacional de Mafra forest enclosure adjoins the botanical garden that begins north of the palace library. It was the royal hunting ground and is still of deer , wild boar , and a variety further hunting wild populated. Hiking trails are laid out and guided hikes are offered.

The beach in the municipality of Ericeira is a European hotspot for surfers , and is the first European and one of the first three worldwide surfing reserves.

The football club Clube Desportivo de Mafra , founded in 1965, rose to the Portuguese second division for the first time in 2015 . The CD Mafra welcomes its guests in the city's Estádio Municipal de Mafra , which seats 1257 spectators.

administration

circle

Mafra coat of arms Mafra is the administrative seat of a district of the same name ( concelho ). The neighboring districts are (starting clockwise in the north): Torres Vedras , Sobral de Monte Agraço , Arruda dos Vinhos , Loures , Sintra and the Atlantic Ocean.

With the regional reform in September 2013, several municipalities were merged into new municipalities, so that the number of municipalities decreased from 17 to eleven.

The following municipalities ( Freguesias ) are in Mafra County:

Mafra County
local community Population
(2011) 		Area
km² 		Density of
population / km² 		LAU
code
Azueira e Sobral da Abelheira 4,316 30.63 141 110918
Carvoeira 2,155 8.21 262 110902
Encarnação 4,798 28.51 168 110904
Enxara do Bispo, Gradil e Vila Franca do Rosário 3,837 31.65 121 110919
Ericeira 10,260 12.05 851 110906
Igreja Nova e Cheleiros 4,384 37.07 118 110920
Mafra 17,986 47.95 375 110909
Malveira e São Miguel de Alcainça 8,257 16.85 490 110921
Milharado 7,023 24.43 287 110911
Santo Isidoro 3.814 24.83 154 110913
Venda do Pinheiro e Santo Estêvão das Galés 9,855 29.48 334 110922
Mafra County 76,685 291.66 263 1109

Population development

Population in Mafra County (1801–2011)
1801 1849 1900 1930 1960 1981 1991 2001 2011
4200 10,734 25,021 29,750 35,739 43,899 43,731 54,358 76,685
At the Mafra train station

Municipal holiday

Town twinning

traffic

From Lisbon you can get to Mafra via the A8 Autoestrada , exit number 5. The Mafrense bus company offers an alternative. It starts in the capital at the Campo Grande metro station . Furthermore, Mafra has a train station on Linha do Oeste far outside the center .

Sons and daughters

Web links

Commons : Mafra  - 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. ↑ 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. ↑ www.verportugal.net , accessed July 30, 2013
  5. ^ Lydia Hohenberger, Jürgen Strohmaier: Portugal . 2nd edition, DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2009, page 175f ( ISBN 978-3-7701-7658-8 )
  6. ↑ Procissões da Quaresma ( pt ) August 16, 2019.
  7. ↑ www.verportugal.net , accessed July 30, 2013
  8. ^ Publication of the administrative reorganization in the Diário da República gazette of January 28, 2013, accessed on March 16, 2014
  9. ↑ www.anmp.pt , accessed on July 28, 2013


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