Vila Real de Santo Antonio

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Vila Real de Santo Antonio
coat of arms map
Coat of arms of Vila Real de Santo António
Vila Real de Santo António (Portugal)
Vila Real de Santo Antonio
Basic data
Region : Algarve
Sub-region : Algarve
District : Faro
Concelho : Vila Real de Santo Antonio
Coordinates : 37 ° 12 ′  N , 7 ° 25 ′  W Coordinates: 37 ° 12 ′  N , 7 ° 25 ′  W
Residents: 11,946 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 10.99 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 1087 inhabitants per km²
politics
Address of the municipal administration: Junta de Freguesia de Vila Real de Santo António
Rua General Humberto Delgado,
nº 53 8900-311 Vila Real de Santo António
Vila Real de Santo António district
flag map
Flag of Vila Real de Santo António Location of the Vila Real de Santo António district
Residents: 19,156 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 61.24 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 313 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities : 3
administration
Administration address: Câmara Municipal de Vila Real de Santo António
Praça Marquês de Pombal
8900-231 Vila Real Santo António
President of the Câmara Municipal: Luís Filipe Soromenho Gomes ( PSD )
Website: www.cm-vrsa.pt

Vila Real de Santo António is a municipality and city in the Faro district in Portugal .

history

At the wide mouth of the Guadiana , the fishing village of Santo Antonio de Avenilha used to be located, which was completely destroyed by a seaquake in the early 17th century. In 1774, the Marquês de Pombal , at the time Prime Minister of King Josè I , had a new city built in just five months: Vila Real - the royal city. In order not to let the original place be forgotten, the Marquês chose the name "Vila Real de Santo Antonio" for the city.

With the rapid and harsh construction of the city, the Marquês primarily pursued strategic purposes. The earthquake of 1755 destroyed border towns with Spain such as Castro Marim and fortresses such as Fortaleza de Cacela . It was urgently necessary to show the “flag” to the arch enemy Spain. The Marquês had gained experience in quickly rebuilding a city in Lisbon. After the earthquake in 1755, the completely destroyed lower town, the Baixa Pombalina , was rebuilt there under his direction , following the pattern of a chessboard. All streets lead at right angles to each other, the houses have a uniform style. Vila Real was laid out exactly according to these specifications, with even prefabricated parts being shipped from Lisbon to Vila Real because of the rush.

Marquês de Pombal

The Marquês de Pombal (1699–1782), a progressive minister with extensive powers for his time, wanted to establish the city with his own domestic policy. To get trade and economy going according to his plans, he founded a fishing company and subsidized shipbuilding. The introduction of customs, however, met with little approval from the population. Even the forced relocation of entire places did not always succeed. The fishermen of Monte Gordo stubbornly refused and went to Spain. The new residents came from Aveiro in northern Portugal (where they could no longer live due to a natural disaster) and from other parts of the Algarve.

The chroniclers do not agree on how the place went from here. What is certain is that the Marquês de Pombal fell into disgrace after the death of his employer, King José I (he had quarreled with the Jesuits and the petty nobility and wanted to abolish their privileges) and was dismissed in 1777. After that, most sources say the city will be forgotten for the time being. It was only "revived" about a hundred years later and was a base for the tuna and sardine fishermen until the 1960s. The port is still important for the export of ores. According to other sources, several thousand people are said to have lived here as early as 1777. It is more likely that the upswing only came with the connection to a railway line and the construction of fish factories.

administration

Guadiana mouth , in the center of the picture: Vila Real de Santo António

Vila Real de Santo António is the administrative seat of a district of the same name. The district is one of the few Portuguese districts whose territory is not connected, but consists of a western part, the municipality of Vila Nova de Cacela, and an eastern part, the actual urban area. The eastern part is bordered by the Castro Marim district in the west and north , Spain is in the east and the Atlantic in the south. The western part is bordered by the Castro Marim district in the east, the Tavira district in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the south.

The following municipalities ( freguesias ) are in the Vila Real de Santo António district:

COA of Vila Real de Santo António municipality (Portugal) .png
Vila Real de Santo António district
local community Population
(2011) 		Area
km² 		Density of
population / km² 		LAU
code
Monte Gordo 3,308 4.22 783 081603
Vila Nova de Cacela 3,902 46.03 85 081601
Vila Real de Santo Antonio 11,946 10.99 1,087 081602
Vila Real de Santo António district 19,156 61.24 313 0816

Public transport

  • The station

  • The ferry

The place is the terminus of the Lagos – Faro – Vila Real railway line and is served by regional trains. At the same time there are buses that continue to Seville.

In the local border traffic with Ayamonte (Spain) there is a daytime ferry - also for car transport, although the Ponte Internacional do Guadiana motorway bridge north of the city has also been available since 1991 .

Sons and daughters

Web links

Commons : Vila Real de Santo António  - 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