Ourique () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the

District of Beja The Beja District () is located in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Beja. It is the largest district of the country by area, and constitutes around 11% of its area. Municipalities The district is composed of 14 municipali ...

in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,389, in an area of 663.31 km². This town is traditionally considered the site of the famous

Battle of Ourique The Battle of Ourique ( ar, معركة أوريكه) was a battle that took place on 25 July 1139, in which the forces of Portuguese count Afonso Henriques (of the House of Burgundy) defeated those led by the Almoravid governor of Córdoba, Muha ...

in 1139, which saw the forces of Portuguese Prince

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 ...

defeat a Muslim

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

force. The present Mayor is Marcelo Guerreiro, 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 ...

, who became the youngest Mayor in Portugal, aged 25, in 2015. The municipal holiday is September 8.

Battle of Ourique

There is no certainty about the exact location of the

battle of Ourique The Battle of Ourique ( ar, معركة أوريكه) was a battle that took place on 25 July 1139, in which the forces of Portuguese count Afonso Henriques (of the House of Burgundy) defeated those led by the Almoravid governor of Córdoba, Muha ...

, although it is typically said to have taken place in the countryside between the towns of

Castro Verde Castro Verde () is a town and a municipality of the Alentejo region of Portugal (in the historic district of Beja). The population in 2011 was 7,276, in an area of 569.44 km2. Castro Verde is situated in the Baixo Alentejo subregion, within ...

and Ourique. Five Muslim kings allied their forces against the Portuguese army, but after a terrible and lengthy fight, the allied forces became scattered in the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...

plains. This would later be considered by the Portuguese to have been a divine miracle, forever forming part of the legend of Castro Verde. According to most accounts of the legend, Afonso Henriques was visited before the battle by an old man who saw in a dream that Henriques would be victorious because God would intervene to help him. The old man advised the Henriques to leave the encampment alone when he heard the bell of the local chapel. Riding off, Henriques was surprised by a ray of light that showed him (in one interpretation) the sign of the cross and

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

on a crucifix. He knelt in its presence and heard the voice of Jesus Christ telling him he would defeat the Moors. The following day, he succeeded in routing the Moors (through his own courage and faith, as the stories go) and was almost immediately declared the

king of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the n ...

. He would include five shields in his coat of arms, representing the five defeated kingdoms. To honor the outstanding victory, then-King D. Sebastião later ordered the construction of St. Peter of the Heads Chapel.

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 ...

''): * Garvão e Santa Luzia * Ourique * Panóias e Conceição * Santana da Serra

Notable people

José Júlio da Costa José Júlio da Costa (14 October 1893, Garvão – 16 March 1946, Lisbon) was a Portuguese left-wing political activist who assassinated President Sidónio Pais of Portugal on 14 December 1918. Early life José Júlio da Costa was the sec ...

(1893–1946) a Portuguese left-wing political activist who assassinated President

Sidónio Pais Sidónio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais (; 1 May 1872 – 14 December 1918) was a Portuguese politician, military officer, and diplomat, who served as the fourth president of the First Portuguese Republic in 1918. One of the most di ...

of Portugal in 1918

References

External links

Photos from Ourique
Towns in Portugal Populated places in Beja District Municipalities of Beja District {{Beja-geo-stub

Battle of Ourique

Parishes

Notable people

See also

References

External links