Forte da Casa is a town and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the municipality of

Vila Franca de Xira Vila Franca de Xira () is a city and municipality in the Lisbon District in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 137,659, in an area of 318.19 km2. Situated on both banks of the Tagus River, 32 km north-east of the Portuguese capital L ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Since 2013, it is part of the civil parish Póvoa de Santa Iria e Forte da Casa. Its population in 2011 was 11,056 in an area of 3.96 km².

History

The town of Forte da Casa takes its name from the

Fort of Casa The Fort of Casa was the most easterly of the forts and redoubts built in 1809-10 during the Peninsular War on the second line of the three defensive Lines of Torres Vedras aimed at protecting the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. It is situated in th ...

, a fortification that was part of the second line of the

Lines of Torres Vedras The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts and other military defences built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, ...

, built between 1809 and 1810 to defend

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

against the French troops during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. The ruins of the fortification can be seen today in a small urban park inside the town. Prior to 1985, Forte da Casa belonged to the civil parish of Vialonga. After a sharp population increase in the 1970s and 1980s, the civil of parish of Forte da Casa was created on 12 July 1985. After a major territorial administration reorganization in Portugal in 2013, the civil parish of Forte da Casa was merged with the neighboring civil parish of

Póvoa de Santa Iria Póvoa de Santa Iria is a city and former civil parish in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. Since 2013, it is part of the civil parish Póvoa de Santa Iria e Forte da Casa. Its population in 2011 was 29,348. History In 1336, t ...

. In November 2014, Forte da Casa was one of the locations most affected by a Legionella outbreak in the Vila Franca de Xira municipality.{{Cite web, title=Quatro anos depois do surto, processo da 'legionella' sem data para a instrução, url=https://www.dn.pt/pais/processo-da-legionella-continua-em-vila-franca-de-xira-e-sem-data-para-a-instrucao-10141149.html, access-date=2021-03-14, website=www.dn.pt, language=pt

References

External links

Junta de Freguesia Póvoa de Santa Iria e Forte da Casa
(in Portuguese) Former parishes of Vila Franca de Xira