Batalha () is a town and a municipality in

Leiria District The District of Leiria ( pt, Distrito de Leiria ) is a district located in Centro region of Portugal, divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, on the east with ...

Centro Region The Central Region ( pt, Região do Centro, ) or Central Portugal is one of the statistical regions of Portugal. The cities with major administrative status inside this region are Coimbra, Aveiro, Viseu, Caldas da Rainha, Leiria, Castelo Branco, ...

, Portugal. The town's name means "battle". The municipality population in 2011 was 15,805,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of . The town proper has around 8,548 inhabitants in an area of . The municipality is limited to the North and West by the municipality of

Leiria Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

, to the East by

Ourém Ourém (), formerly known as Vila Nova de Ourém, is a municipality in the district of Santarém in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 45,932, in an area of 416.68 km2. The municipality of Ourém contains two cities: Ourém (about 12,000 r ...

, to the Southeast by

Alcanena Alcanena () is a portuguese town and municipality of Ribatejo in Santarém District. The population in 2011 was 13,868, in an area of 127.33 km². The current Mayor is Rui Anastácio (Partido Social Democrata) and the president of the Munici ...

and to the Southwest by

Porto de Mós Porto de Mós () is a town and a municipality of Estremadura province in Leiria District. It is in the Centro Region and the Pinhal Litoral subregion. The population in 2011 was 24,342, in an area of 261.83 km². There were archeologic find ...

. The town was founded by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

João I of Portugal John I ( pt, João WP:IPA for Portuguese, �uˈɐ̃w̃ 11 April 1357 – 14 August 1433), also called John of Aviz, was List of Portuguese monarchs, King of Portugal from 1385 until his death in 1433. He is recognized chiefly for his role i ...

, jointly with the Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória na Batalha, to pay homage to the Portuguese victory at the

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 ...

(August 14, 1385) that put an end to the 1383–1385 Crisis.

History

Although there are countless traces throughout the region that allude to a human occupation since prehistoric times, passing through the

Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

and, successively, throughout history (it is believed that the Roman settlement of

Collipo Batalha (Portuguese for battle) may refer to: ;Portugal *Batalha, Portugal, a municipality *Batalha Monastery (officially Mosteiro Santa Maria da Vitória), monastery in Batalha, Portugal *Batalha Square, a historical public square in the city of P ...

, originally of the

Turduli The Turduli (Greek ''Tourduloi'') or Turtuli were an ancient pre-Roman people of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. Location The Turduli tribes lived mainly in the south and centre of modern Portugal – in the east of the provinces of Beira Li ...

people, established in São Sebastião do Freixo), Vila da Batalha owes its origin to the construction of the Santa Maria da Vitória Monastery. In fact, Batalha was born with the Avis Dynasty and the consolidation of Independence in 1385. The administrative figure of the parishes is only drawn and defined throughout the second half of the 19th century, with Liberalism, so that on September 14, 1512, when the Prior-Major of Santa Cruz de Coimbra, D. Pedro Vaz Gavião, creates the parish of Batalha, it is evidently the seat that, however, delimits and is the first form of future civil parish.

Demography

Monuments

Batalha Monastery The Monastery of Batalha ( pt, Mosteiro da Batalha) is a Dominican convent in the municipality of Batalha, in the district of Leiria, in the Centro Region of Portugal. Originally, and officially, known as the ''Monastery of Saint Mary of the Vi ...

* Estátua Equestre de São Nuno de Santa Maria (1966 - 1968) * Igreja Matriz de Exaltação de Santa Cruz (1514 - 1532) * Capela da Santa Casa da Misericórdia (18th century) * Ponte da Boutaca (1862) * Pelourinho (Restored in 2000) * Edifício Mouzinho de Albuquerque - Galeria de Exposições * Capela de Nossa Senhora do Caminho * Boca da Mina das Barrojeiras * Igreja Paroquial Nossa Senhora dos Remédios * Ermida de Nossa Senhora do Fetal * Moinhos de Vento

Natural heritage

* Grutas da Moeda *

Estremadura Limestone Massif The Estremadura Limestone Massif (Portuguese: ) is a massif located in central west Portugal. Approximately half of the massif is located within the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park. The massif has an elongated NE-SW direction and englobes ...

* Buraco Roto * Pia da Ovelha * Escarpa de falha do Reguengo do Fetal

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 4 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 ...

''): * Batalha * Golpilheira * Reguengo do Fetal * São Mamede

International relations

Batalha is twinned with: * Trujillo, Spain (since 1992) *

Joinville-le-Pont Joinville-le-Pont () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History The commune was created in 1791 under the name La Branche-du-Pont-de-Saint-Maur (literally "The Branch of Saint-Maur ...

, France (since 2008)

Notable people

Joaquim Augusto Mouzinho de Albuquerque Joaquim Augusto Mouzinho de Albuquerque (12 November 1855 – 8 January 1902) was a Portuguese cavalry officer. He captured Gungunhana in Chaimite (1895) and was governor-general of Mozambique. He was a grandson of Luís da Silva Mouzinho de Alb ...

(1855 in Batalha – 1902) a Portuguese cavalry officer. * Moisés Espírito Santo Bagagem (born 1934 in Batalha) a Portuguese ethnologist and sociologist * Olegário Benquerença (born 1969 in Batalha) a retired Portuguese football referee.

References

External links

Photos from Batalha

Camara Municipal da Batalha

Monastery of Batalha
Towns in Portugal Populated places in Leiria District Municipalities of Leiria District {{Leiria-geo-stub