Raposeira is a village 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 do Bispo
Vila do Bispo () is a municipality (''concelho'') in the Portuguese Algarve. It has 5,717 inhabitants in an area of 179.06 km2.
History
The first references to this region referred to the ''Aldeia do Bispo'' in the 14th century, in a char ...
,
District of Faro, in
Algarve region
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''mun ...
,
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 ...
. It is told that it is named after fox because ''raposa'' means ''fox'' in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish
Vila do Bispo e Raposeira.
It has an area of 25.71 km² and 441 inhabitants (2001).
It is one of the parishes covered by the
Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park
Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park (PNSACV) is a natural park located in southwest Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on t ...
.
Raposeira was one of the places where the 15th-century Portuguese prince
Henry the Navigator
''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...
set up residence during his lifetime. Henry was known to have attended mass at the isolated but spacious chapel dedicated to the cult of
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...
, believed to have been originally erected by the
Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
knights in the latter part the 13th century, and one of the few Medieval structures in this region of the
Algarve
The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese).
The region has it ...
to have survived the
1755 earthquake intact.
There are several groups of megalithic
menhir
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
s on the way to beach. It has been a very friendly place to stay for nomad groups, surfers and many had done retirement settlement here. People from Germany, England, Holland and more of Europe enjoy happy days here. The place is windy in summer because of the beach nearby. Wind blows mostly from two sides and it is really interesting because when the wind blows from Monchique a nearby area popular for ''medroneah'' (a very strong local alcoholic drink) it feels cold but on the other side is Morocco from where the very hot wind blows.
There are not many choices to eat like in the centre of Raposeira but there are local Portuguese bars and small cafe restaurant. There is a pizza restaurant called Pizza Point which normally opens after 3:00 pm.
The village is very calm with kind-hearted people.
Bus transport is available from 6:00 in the morning to 8:00 in the evening sometimes differing on public holidays. But it is always better with your own means of transportation because if you want to travel to Sagres and Lagos from there you have to meet the bus timetable.
Patrimony
*
Menhir of Aspradantes
*
Hermitage of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Hermitage of Our Lady of Guadalupe ( pt, Ermida de Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe ), also known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe ( pt, Capela de Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe) is located between the towns of Budens and Raposeira, in the Munic ...
*
Igreja da Raposeira
*
Casa do Infante
The Casa do Infante (''House of the Prince''), or alternately as the ''Alfândega Velha'' (''Old Customshouse'') is a historical house in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the municipality of ...
*
Battery of Zavial
Image:Igreja Matriz da Raposeira.jpg, Church of Raposeira
Image:Capela de Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe in Raposeira.jpg, Hermitage of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Image:Menir Raposeira.jpg, Menhir of Aspradantes
References
{{authority control
Former parishes of Vila do Bispo