Portalegre Municipality Information & Portalegre Municipality Links at HealthHaven.com

Portalegre
Portalegre
	— Municipality —
; Flag	; Coat of arms
	Location in Portugal
	Coordinates: 39°19′N 7°25′W / 39.317°N 7.417°WCoordinates: 39°19′N 7°25′W / 39.317°N 7.417°W
Country	Portugal
Region	Alentejo
Subregion	Alto Alentejo
District/A.R.	Portalegre
	Government
- Mayor	Mata Cáceres (PSD)
	Area
- Total	447.1 km2 (172.6 sq mi)
	Population
- Total	24,756
- Density	55/km2 (142.4/sq mi)
Parishes (no.)	10
Municipal holiday	; 23 May
Website	http://www.cm-portalegre.pt

This article is about Portalegre, Alentejo, Portugal. For Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, see Porto Alegre.

Portalegre (Portuguese pronunciation: [puɾtɐˈlɛɡɾ(ɨ)]) is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 447.1 km² and a total population of 24,756 inhabitants. It contains the city Portalegre, Portugal.

The municipality is composed of 10 parishes, and is located in the District of Portalegre.

The present Mayor is José Mata Cáceres, elected by the Social Democratic Party.

Its name comes from the Latin Portus Alacer (meaning "dry port").

The municipal holiday is 23 May.

In 2001 census the city of Portalegre had 15,768 inhabitants in its 2 parishes (Sé and São Lourenço). These 2 parishes plus the 8 rural parishes had a total of 25,608 inhabitants.

[edit] History

Portalegre was founded in the reign of Afonso III, in 1259. It was to be given to his bastard son D. Afonso Sanches.

In D. Diniz' reign, by a foral of 18 November 1299, it was determined that Portalegre would be donated to the king himself and later to his first born and heir.

View of Portalegre from the distance. The church at the left is the cathedral of the city.

Portalegre was elevated to the status of city on 23 May 1550, by D. João III. At this time, the city was regarded as an important administrative and economic centre. In the 15th century, it was already recognized for its cloth manufacturing.

As it is near the frontier with Spain it always suffered lots of invasions from foreign troops: in 1704 (during the War of the Spanish Succession), it was attacked and conquered by the army of Felipe V; again in 1801 during the War of the Oranges, it surrendered to the Spanish Army, this way trying to counter the French dominion. In 1847 it was occupied by forces of Spanish General Concha.

The importance of Portalegre would come to be recognized in 1859, when it became capital of the district of Portalegre.

[edit] Other Features

The house-museum of José Régio, a famous Portuguese poet, was installed in his home, in which he lived for 34 years. When Régio was accepted at the high school of Mouzinho da Silveira, in Portalegre, this place was a hostel. It was previously an annex of the convent of S. Brás, of which there are still some vestiges, namely the chapel. It also served as a headquarter when the peninsular wars were fought, but it was later named Pensão 21.

José Régio rented a humble room and, as he needed more space (he collected several works of art, amongst which more than 400 representations of Christ), he would rent more space. So, as time went by, he finally became the only inhabitant of the hostel. In 1965, he sold his collection to the municipality of Portalegre with the condition of it buying his house, restore it and transform it into a museum. He lived there until he died, in 1969. The museum opened to public in 1971.

[edit] Parishes

[edit] See also

Portugal portal

Portalegre DOC

[edit] References

[edit] External links