Soure (Portugal)

Soure
coat of arms map
Basic data
Region :	Centro
Sub-region :	Region of Coimbra
District :	Coimbra
Concelho :	Soure
Coordinates :	40 ° 4 ′  N , 8 ° 38 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 4 ′  N , 8 ° 38 ′  W
Residents:	7917 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	92.32 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	86 inhabitants per km²
politics
Mayor :	Mário Jorge Nunes PS
Soure County
flag map
Residents:	19,245 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface:	265.05 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density :	73 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities :	10
administration
Administration address:	Câmara Municipal de Soure Praça da República 3130-218 Soure
Website:	www.cm-soure.pt

Soure is a district and a small town ( Vila ) in the Coimbra district in central Portugal .

geography

The Soure district is essentially characterized by two landscapes. On the one hand the hilly parts with the foothills of the Iberian Scheidegebirge , namely the Serra do Sicó . On the other hand, the flat parts of the area, traversed by the rivers Anços , Arunca and Pranto , with a varied landscape of forests (oak, eucalyptus, among other conifers and hardwoods) and areas of extensive and intensive agriculture.

history

Archaeological finds, especially from the Neolithic Age , prove that the area was inhabited for a long time, back to prehistoric times. During the Roman occupation, the place was called Saurium and was fortified, and a pillar ( miliarium ) made of Saurium (on the Roman road from Olisipo to Conimbriga ) can be seen in the city museum. The first documented mention of Soures is the transfer to the Convento da Vacariça in 1043 of a small monastery owned by the brothers João, Sisnando, Ordonho and Soleima . In July 1111, Soure received city rights ("foral") for the first time, transferred by Count Dom Henrique Heinrich of Burgundy and Queen Dona Teresa ( Theresia of Castile ), in order to keep the population and to resettle them through tax privileges.

During the time of the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula , Soure was an Arab fortress, which after its conquest in 1064 in the course of the Reconquista, became a strategically important fortification in the defense line of Coimbra , together with Montemor-o-Velho , Penela , Santa Olaia , Germanelo , Miranda do Corvo and Lousã .

Queen Teresa gave Soure to the Knights Templar in 1128 , which Dom Afonso Henriques ( Alfonso I (Portugal) ) confirmed in 1129. Soure was the Templars' first seat in Portugal, even before the nation was founded (1143). Until the conquest of Lisbon in 1147, Soure remained an important fortress, but then lost its strategic importance. The rivers Anços , Arunca and Pranto , which were important for the supply of the previous fortifications , now enabled flourishing agriculture in the pacified area.

In 1513 King Manuel I confirmed the city rights of Soures in the course of his administrative reforms. In the following centuries there were various regional reforms in which communities ( freguesias ) from the district of Soure were affiliated with surrounding districts ( concelhos ) or came from them to Soure, especially the now independent districts of Verride and Santo Varão .

In 1807, Soure was as unaffected by General Junot's French invasion troops passing through the region as it was by General Wellington's troops pursuing them .

The district of Soure has existed in its current structure of 12 municipalities since 1928.

The town hall ( Paços do Concelho ) of Soure

administration

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Soure is the administrative seat of a district of the same name. The neighboring districts are (starting clockwise in the north): Montemor-o-Velho , Condeixa-a-Nova , Penela , Ansião , Pombal and Figueira da Foz .

With the regional reform in September 2013 , the municipalities of Gesteira and Brunhós and the municipalities of Degracias and Pombalinho were each merged into a new municipality, so that the number of municipalities decreased from twelve to ten.

The following municipalities ( freguesias ) are in the Soure district:

Soure County

local community	Population (2011)	Area km²	Density of population / km²	LAU code
Alfarelos	1,439	13.98	103	061501
Degracias e Pombalinho	1,260	39.47	32	061513
Figueiró do Campo	1,507	11.27	134	061504
Gesteira e Brunhós	1,154	16.76	69	061514
Granja do Ulmeiro	1,866	5.05	369	061506
Samuel	1,254	31.37	40	061508
Soure	7,917	92.32	86	061509
Tapéus	338	13.87	24	061510
Vila Nova de Anços	1,113	20.58	54	061511
Vinha da Rainha	1,397	20.38	69	061512
Soure County	19,245	265.05	73	0615

Population development

Population in Soure County (1801–2011)
1801	1849	1900	1930	1960	1981	1991	2001	2011
3,801	6,436	20,233	22,941	26,575	22,570	21,704	20,940	19,245

Municipal holiday

• September 21st ( Saint Matthew )

Twin cities

• Neuville-de-Poitou ( France ) since 1987
• Soure ( Brazil ) since 1994

politics

After the long-time mayor João Gouveia ( PS , until the 2001 election PSD / PPD ) did not run for the 2013 local elections, his party friend Mário Jorge Nunes was elected mayor, Gouveia first became chairman of the district assembly ( Assembleia Municipal , the municipal parliament) and became then Member of the Portuguese Parliament .

media

The local newspaper O Popular de Soure appears every two weeks on Fridays. It belongs to the local radio station Soures, the Radio Popular 104.4 (officially Radio Popular do Concelho de Soure ), which emerged from the pirate station Rádio Saurium , which was launched in 1987 and was legalized in 1990.

With the monthly newspaper Preto no Branco ( Portuguese for "black on white"), there has been a second regional newspaper in the district since 2005, which is published by the cultural association Grupo Musical Gesteirense in the district of Gesteira . It is not in the open market, but is only distributed through annual subscriptions.

economy

Wind farms in the Serra do Sicó near Degracias

In the mountainous parts of the district, in the Serra do Sicó , there are quarries (including lime) and food industry (dried fruits and their processing), as well as traditional cheese production. Electricity is produced there in wind farms. In the rest of the river-traversed areas, agriculture on the fertile soils is an important economic factor in the district, alongside smaller industrial companies and trade. Medium-sized processing companies and logistics companies have settled in the industrial areas on the outskirts of the city.

Of the 750 companies with the highest turnover in the Coimbra district, only 21 are located in the Soure district (as of 12/2014). The largest company with annual sales of over € 10 million is Frutorra - Pimenta, Lda., Which has been selling nuts and dried fruits since 1989, and is number 102 on the list of the largest companies in the district. The largest private employer in the district, on the other hand, is the mechanical engineering company Vieira Cordeiro SA, which in addition to its 70 direct employees employs a large number of freelancers as suppliers. Among the social enterprises in the district is the Associação Cultural, Recreativa e Social de Samuel .

Sport and culture

In recent years, the municipality of Soure has endeavored to promote the decentralized promotion of cultural and social activities in the localities of the district. Many old cultural associations (orchestras, folklore, theater) have expanded their activities, and new social and cultural initiatives have sprung up locally and even neighbors. Nevertheless, the district town of Soure remains the undisputed cultural and economic center of the district, where its most important events and libraries, old mansions and narrow streets, school centers, administrations and hospitals can be found.

Remains of the fortifications ( Castelo de Soure )

S.Tiago , the main church ( Igreja Matriz ) of Soure

Attractions

Soure Castle was the first seat of the Knights Templar in Portugal. The centrally located remains of the castle and its massive masonry house the city museum and the tourist office ("Turismo"). The narrow Anços River flows through the center of Soures, past the Parque da Várzea , old bridges and an old water mill, until it flows into the Arunca at the entrance to the city. The city administration is centrally located in the building of the Paços de Concelho (town hall) with a small park in front of it. The building was built in the years 1902–1906 in the neo- Manueline style.

A little below the handsome courthouse is next to the bus station and the market hall. In addition to fruit and vegetables, fish and meat are also offered there. Behind it are the municipal therapeutic facilities and public swimming pools, which are architecturally integrated into the surrounding old buildings.

In the main church of S.Tiago , built in the 15th century by the later King Manuel I, various curious figures and historical documents are carved in stone. Various sculptures from the year of construction and the two following decades have also been preserved. Also worth seeing are the golden altar, the figure of the Maria-with-the-child from the 16th century, and the mannerist paintings from the years 1560–70.

The Capela des Sao Mateus , located outside the village and built in 1189 by the hermit Rício, is a regional pilgrimage site, to which processions take place on its holiday (September 21). Here you can find Manueline decorations, a damaged sculpture from the 16th century, but also Mudejar tiles from the 15th century.

In the Paúl da Madriz nature reserve to the south , a wetland and bird sanctuary, hibernating migratory birds can be observed. Canoeing and rowing are practiced in Arunca and its reservoir .

The extensive Roman excavation sites of Conimbriga already belong to the neighboring district of Condeixa-a-Nova .

Celebrations and events

On the city holiday of September 21, the city administration (Câmara Municipal) organizes the traditional "Festas de S. Mateus" (Saint Matthew celebrations) and the simultaneous "FATACIS - Feira de Artesanato, Turismo, Agricultura, Comércio, Industria de Soure '' ("Handicrafts, Tourism, Agriculture, Trade and Industry Fair in Soure"). Visitors to the district and from outside come for the various exhibitions and cultural and gastronomic events, but also for the religious processions Names in the music program of the seven-day S.Mateus 2016 were the British band Fischer-Z and the internationally known Portuguese reggae artist Richie Campbell .

Every year in May, the city administration has been organizing the "Semana do Livro e da Cultura" ("Week of Books and Culture") since 1999. Here, the joy of reading is encouraged among young and old, with various cultural events organized by schools and associations be organized from all parts of the circle.

The municipal stadium Campo Dr. António Coelho Rodrigues

On the last weekend in June every year, all 12 municipalities in the district present themselves in the “Parque da Várzea” in Soure, with a focus on gastronomy, folklore performances, traditional handicrafts and music concerts.

A town twinning week takes place every two years with varying events and mutual visiting delegations.

Sports

The football club GD Sourense , founded in 1947, competes in the third Portuguese league, the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores (as of 2014). His home games are played in the Campo Dr. António Coelho Rodrigues in Soure.

traffic

railroad

At the Soure train station

Soure is on the Linha do Norte , the important route from Lisbon to Porto , but only regional trains stop here, not the Alfa Pendular and not the Intercidades . The handsome train station is located on the outskirts of the town and has only functioned as a stopping point since the counters were closed and the freight service was discontinued.

Trunk roads

Via the national road 342, Soure is 13 km from Condeixa-a-Nova and its connection to the A1 motorway. Since August 2014, Soure has also been connected to the A1 via its own junction.

swell

• João Fonseca "Dicionário do Nome das Terras" 2nd edition, Casa das Letras, Cruz Quebrada 2007, ISBN 978-9724617305
• Leaflet from the city administration ( available from the local tourist office in 2010 , no further details)
• Soure brochure of the state tourism agency Região de Turismo Centro (no further details)
• History page 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. ↑ 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 March 16, 2014
5. ↑ Results of the 2001 local elections on www.data.okfn.org, accessed on December 27, 2014
6. ↑ Website on the history of radio ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the radio website, accessed December 27, 2014 
7. ↑ Portrait of the local radio station Soures on the home blog Soures, accessed on December 27, 2014
8. ^ Website of the newspaper Preto no Branco (as blog), accessed on December 27, 2014
9. ↑ Portrait of the newspaper Preto no Branco on the home blog Soures, accessed on December 27, 2014
10. ↑ Article of December 9, 2014 on the business ranking in the Coimbra district on the website of the employers' association in Soure district, accessed on December 27, 2014
11. ^ Program of S. Mateus 2016 on the festival website, accessed on January 25, 2017
12. ↑ Article dated August 1, 2014 on the opening of the Soures connection to the A1  ( 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. on the regional news portal www.coimbratv.net, accessed on January 7, 2015  

Web links

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

• Map of the Freguesia Soure (Portugal) at the Instituto Geográfico do Exército
• Historical soure website
• City administration website
• Website of the São Mateus city festival