Cinfães () is a village 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 the northern district of

Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the district of the same name, with a population of 100,000 inhabitants, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões intermunipical community, with 267,633 inhabita ...

, Portugal. The village proper has about 3,300 inhabitants. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 20,427,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
in an area of 239.29 km². Its history is linked to the first king of Portugal,

Afonso Henriques Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French inf ...

and several noblemen of his entourage, like the server Egas Moniz. In Cinfães existed several fortified houses or towers like "Torre da Chã" destroyed during the first half of the 20th century. It has an important heritage resource, especially the Romanesque churches such as St. Cristóvão de Nogueira; Santa Maria Maior de Tarouquela, Igreja do Escamarão, Ermida do Douro among many important others churches, specially dated to the Baroque period, like the one of São Pedro of Ferreiros de Tendais, and Santa Cristina of Tendais. The present mayor is Armando Mourisco, elected by the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. The municipal holiday is June 24 (st. John's day).

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 14 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 ...

''): * Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires * Cinfães * Espadanedo * Ferreiros de Tendais * Fornelos * Moimenta * Nespereira * Oliveira do Douro *

Santiago de Piães Santiago de Piães is a Portuguese civil parish ('' freguesia)'' in the municipality of Cinfães. The population in 2011 was 1,797,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 ...

1514 Year 1514 (Roman numerals, MDXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 10 – A great fire breaks out, in the Rialto of Venice. * Marc ...

a status it kept until

1855 Events January–March * January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city. * January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. * January 23 ** The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens ...

. This area in the Douro region is now part of the Cinfães municipality.

Notable people

Alexandre de Serpa Pinto Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto, Viscount of Serpa Pinto (aka Serpa Pinto; 20 April 184628 December 1900) was a Portuguese explorer of southern Africa and a colonial administrator. Early life Serpa Pinto was born at the Quinta das Pol ...

(1846 at the castle of Polchras in Tendais – 1900) Viscount of Serpa Pinto, a Portuguese explorer of southern Africa and a colonial administrator;

Governor of Cape Verde The islands of Cape Verde were uninhabited when discovered and claimed by Portugal in 1456. A Portuguese colony was established in 1462. The islands were united as a single crown colony in 1587. In 1951, the islands became an overseas provi ...

, 1894/8. * Rui Cardoso (born 1994) a Portuguese footballer with over 100 club caps

References

External links

Town Hall official websitePhotos from Cinfães
Villages in Portugal Populated places in Viseu District Municipalities of Viseu District People from Cinfães {{Viseu-geo-stub