Lourinhã () is a municipality in the District of Lisbon, in the Oeste Subregion of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 25,735,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 147.17 km². The seat of the municipality is the town of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhabitants. The present Mayor is João Duarte, 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 t ...

History

The name Lourinhã possibly originated in the period of Roman domination, when a

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 ...

was located in the area. The origin of the medieval village is linked to ''Jordan'', a French knight who took part in the successful

Siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords. The siege of Lisbon was one of the few Christian victories of ...

in 1147. King Afonso Henriques granted Jordan the region of Lourinhã as

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

and allowed him to grant 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'', ...

(letter of feudal rights) to its settlers in 1160. The name Lourinhã may be related to the origin of its feudal lord, since Jordan was from the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

region in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The rights of Lourinhã were confirmed by letters of King Sancho I in 1218 and again 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 ( ...

in 1258. The parish of Lourinhã became one of the richest of the Lisbon

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

, as reflected by its main church, a fine example of 14th-century Portuguese

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

. The Gothic works of the main church were sponsored by Lourenço Vicente, a Lourinhã-born

Archbishop of Braga The Archdiocese of Braga ( la, Archidioecesis Bracarensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is known for its use of the Rite of Braga, a use of the liturgy distinct from the Roman R ...

who received the village as a donation of King John I in 1384. In the 16th century, the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

monastery of Santo António (1598) and a Misericórdia Church and Charity (1586) were founded in Lourinhã. The Misericórdia (Mercy), a religious charity, now houses a museum with outstanding

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

paintings. The most important paintings are by the hand of a mysterious early 16th-century painter, dubbed the ''Master of Lourinhã'' (Mestre da Lourinhã). Starting at the end of the 19th century, the infrastructure of the municipality was modernised with roads, canalised water and electric light, as well as improvements in the educational system. The economy depended mostly on agriculture and fishing. Tourism is an increasingly important source of revenue, due to the municipality's extensive, picturesque beaches and, more recently, by the paleontological remains from the eponymous

Lourinhã Formation The Lourinhã Formation () is a fossil rich geological formation in western Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã. The formation is mostly Late Jurassic in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian), with the top of the formation extending into the ...

, which include fossilised bones, footprints, eggs and even embryos from

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s. Many of which can be seen nowadays at the local museum, Museu da Lourinhã. Lourinhã, is one of the few brandy-making areas, besides

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cognac production falls under French appella ...

, Armagnac and Jerez, that have received appellation status.

Civil parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 8 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Lourinhã e Atalaia * Miragaia e Marteleira * Moita dos Ferreiros * Reguengo Grande * Ribamar * Santa Bárbara * São Bartolomeu dos Galegos e Moledo * Vimeiro

Climate

Lourinhã has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Temperatures are never too hot nor too cold.

Population

Beaches

Lourinhã has 12 km of coastline with several popular beaches. *Praia de Areal *Praia da Areia Branca *Praia do Caniçal *Praia de Paimogo *Praia de Vale Frades *Praia de Porto das Barcas *Praia da Peralta

Paleontology

The area of Lourinhã is known by the Late Jurassic findings of dinosaurs and other fossils, and give the name for

. The Museu da Lourinhã holds the main dinosaur collection.

Notable people

* Ana Jorge (born 1949) a pediatrician and a Portuguese politician * Nuno Brás (born 1963) Bishop of Madeira * Fernando Alexandre (born 1985) a Portuguese former footballer with 307 club caps

References

External links

Municipality official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lourinha Municipality Towns in Portugal Municipalities of Lisbon District