Alvito () is a town and a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in
Beja District
The Beja District () is located in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Beja. It is the largest district of the country by area, and constitutes around 11% of its area.
Municipalities
The district is composed of 14 municipali ...
in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 2,504, in an area of 264.85 km
2.
The current president municipal chamber is António João Feio Valério.
History
![Castelo de Alvito (Portugal)2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Castelo_de_Alvito_%28Portugal%292.jpg)
The Alvito region has been inhabited since the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
, and during the period of
Roman domination several
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
e were established nearby, later occupied by
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
and
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
. During the
Reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
, Alvito was conquered by the Portuguese in 1234, being later (1251) donated by
King Afonso III to Estêvão Anes,
chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
of the kingdom, who promoted the settlement of the area.
The village gained a
foral
200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal
The word ''foral'' ({{IPA-pt, fuˈɾaɫ, eu, plural: ''forais'') is a noun derived from the Portuguese word ''foro'', ultimately from Latin ''forum'', equivalent to Spanish ''fuero'', Galician ''foro'', Ca ...
(letter of feudal rights) in 1280, confirmed by
King Dinis I in 1283. In 1296 an annual fair was established, attesting the rapid development of the region. In 1387,
King John I donated Alvito to knight Diogo Lobo in exchange for his services in the decisive
Battle of Aljubarrota
The Battle of Aljubarrota (; see Aljubarrota) was fought between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile on 14 August 1385. Forces commanded by King John I of Portugal and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira, with the support of English ...
(1385), and in 1475 the title of
Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
was granted to the rulers of Alvito.
The 15th and 16th centuries were a time of strong economic and populational development of Alvito, which reached 1700 inhabitants in 1527. The Castle of Alvito was rebuilt between 1494 and 1504, and its architecture and decoration show an interesting mix of
Manueline
The Manueline ( pt, estilo manuelino, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manuel ...
(Portuguese late
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
) and
Mudéjar
Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...
(Arab-influenced) styles, typical of the
Alentejo
Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo'').
Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...
region. Also the main church (''matriz'') of Alvito, in a mix of
Manueline
The Manueline ( pt, estilo manuelino, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manuel ...
and early
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
styles, dates from the early 16th century.
After the 18th century, Alvito faced an economic stagnation that continued until the 20th century, and it now bets on its touristic potential. In 1993, the Castle of Alvito was turned into a luxury hotel of the
Pousadas de Portugal
Pousadas de Portugal () is a chain of luxury, traditional or historical hotels in Portugal. Formerly run by the Portuguese State, they are now run by the Pestana Group, which in September 2003 won a public bid for the sale of 37.6% of parent compa ...
brand.
Parishes
![Alvito-CCBY](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Alvito-CCBY.jpg)
Administratively, the municipality is divided into 2 civil parishes (''
freguesias
''Freguesia'' (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Port ...
''):
* Alvito
* Vila Nova da Baronia
Cities and towns
The municipality includes one town:
* Alvito
Demographics
International relations
Alvito is
twinned with:
*
Alvito, Italy
References
External links
Official websitePhotos from Alvito
Populated places in Beja District
Municipalities of Beja District
{{Beja-geo-stub