Favaios () is a civil parish of the municipality of

Alijó Alijó () is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal, located in the district of Vila Real. The population in 2021 was 10,486, in an area of 297.60 km2. History There are several megalithic structures, dolmens and castros in Alijó ...

, in northern

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 ...

. The population in 2011 was 1,064,Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)
Census 2011 results according to the 2013 administrative division of Portugal in an area of 21.45 km². The region is known for its

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

s, namely, the

moscatel Muscatel ( ) is a type of wine made from muscat grapes. The term is now normally used in the United States to refer to a fortified wine made from these grapes rather than just any wine made from these grapes. This fortified muscatel became popu ...

s like ''Moscatel de Favaios''.

History

Favaios was occupied by Roman legions between 218 BCE and 201 BCE, who took it from the tribes of Lusitanians and Hispanic clans. The founders came from the families and relations of the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as ...

, of

Imperial Rome 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 ...

, who rose to prominence after Emperor Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus. The parish's name is derived from ''Flávios'', a corruption of the original name of this leader, ''Flavius'' . Roman Flávios belonged to a vast territory known as Panoias (not to be confused with modern-day Panoias which is a small community in the municipality of Braga). Ancient Panoias extended from the river Marão to the

Tua River Tua () is a river in northeastern Portugal, flowing by the border of Vila Real District and Bragança District. It is a tributary of the Douro River. The biggest and most important city it flows through is Mirandela. The Tua line The Tua ...

, and from the

Douro River The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...

to the current site of

Murça Murça () is a municipality in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,952, in an area of 189.37 km². It is situated in the central part of the eastern district of Vila Real, and consigned to the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro region. ...

. The invasion of the Iberian peninsula by Arabs reached the north, where the Moors took the Roman ''Castle of Flávias'': it would later be remembered as the ''"Castelo dos Mouros”'' ( en, Castle of Moors). This occupation forced the locals to escape the region and re-established settlements away from Favaios: half the population took refuge in the area that would be renamed São Bento. From this new colony the Portuguese battled the Moors of Favaios; after the expulsion of the Moors the region was covered in the destruction of these battles. The destruction lead to a slow reconstruction of Favaios. Favaios received in 1211 its ''Carta de Alforria'' (''Charter of liberty/freedom'') from King

Afonso II Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

, and its

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 ...

(''charter'') in 1270 by

Afonso III Afonso III (; rare English alternatives: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse''), or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin), the Boulonnais ( Port. ''o Bolonhês''), King of Portugal ( ...

(which was later confirmed in 1284 by King Denis). Strangely, during the reign of

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: * Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180) *Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263) *Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), wa ...

the charter was revoked in 1514, to be reinstituted the following year, ordering that the local fountain be marked with the Royal shield over an

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines of ...

, surmounted by a crown.

Geography

With an area of 21.45 km², Favaios is located along a plateau in the

Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Trás-os-Montes () is a geographical, historical and cultural region of Portugal. Portuguese language, Portuguese for "behind the mountains", Trás-os-Montes is located northeast of the country in an highland, upland area, landlocked by the Douro ...

province, district headed by Vila Real de Trás-os-Montes city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Favaios (Alijo) Freguesias of Alijó