São João de Areias is a

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 ...

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 (''

concelho Concelho () is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial subdivision in local government. In comparison, the word ''município'' () refers to the organs of State. This differentiation is still in use in Portugal a ...

'') of

Santa Comba Dão Santa Comba Dão () is a city and a municipality in the Viseu District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 11,597, in an area of 111.95 km2. The city proper has a population of 3,300. The present mayor is Leonel Gouveia, elected in 2013 ...

, in the former-district of

Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the district of the same name, with a population of 100,000 inhabitants, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões intermunipical community, with 267,633 inhabi ...

. The population in 2011 was 1,939,Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)
Census 2011 results according to the 2013 administrative division of Portugal in an area of 21.51 km².Áreas das freguesias, concelhos, distritos e país
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History

A curious legend attributes the name ''São João de Areias'' to the apparition of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

on the banks of the

Mondego River The Rio Mondego () or Mondego River is the longest river entirely within Portuguese territory. It has its source in Serra da Estrela, the highest mountain range in mainland Portugal (i.e. excluding the Portuguese islands). It runs from the Go ...

. An old woman, upon seeing this vision yelled out ''Boa Nova! Boa Nova!'', so the area was named ''Nova''. Following public notice, the local residents proceeded in procession to their church. Being an image of John the Baptist and owing to the apparition occurring along the sandbank, the town started being referred to as ''São João de'' (or ''das'') ''Areias'' (''Saint John of the Sands''). The town of São João de Areias was a municipal seat from 1514 to 1895, when its municipality was divided between

and

Carregal do Sal Carregal do Sal () is a municipality in Viseu District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 9,835, in an area of 116.89 km2. The present mayor is Atílio dos Santos Nunes, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is th ...

municipalities. The locality of São João de Areias, which had ''vila'' (''town'') status possibly since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, eventually lost that title after the extinction of its municipality. São João de Areias only recovered its title of town in the summer of 1997 (following the publication of Law 70/97). The area of São João de Areias was occupied since remote history, from archaeological evidence encountered throughout this region's history, including graves and vestiges of the Roman occupation. Documents from the 10th and 12th century identify the lands of São João de Areias as being donated by the

Monastery of Lorvão A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

to the Sé Cathedral of Coimbra and Sé Cathedral of Viseu. From this point forward the territory of this parish encompassed the towns of Silvares, São João de Areias and

Parada Parada may refer to: Places Portugal * Parada (Alfândega da Fé), a civil parish in the municipality of Alfândega da Fé Municipality, Alfândega da Fé * Parada (Almeida), a civil parish in the municipality of Almeida Municipality, Almeida * Pa ...

. During the 18th and 19th centuries, São João de Areias was referred to in the Inquiries of

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 ( ...

and other documents of the royal chancellery. At the beginning of the 16th century (10 April 1514 specifically)

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 ...

conceded 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'', ...

(''charter''), resulting in the building of the pillory of São João de Areias. The regal population cadastral document for 1527, indicated that the municipality of São João de Areias included the parishes of São João and Parada. Silvares was the seat of a small municipality, alongside that of São João de Areias, where 25 inhabitants (13 in Silvares, eight in Casal and four in Venda a Guarita had homes. Sometime between the 15th and 16th centuries there was a growth in the construction of religious buildings, that would repeat itself in the 18th century. Seven chapels were constructed during this epoch, and dedicated to São Sebastião, São Pedro, São Silvestre,

São João Evangelista São João Evangelista is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Minas Gerais This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais (MG), located in the So ...

Santo António Santo António (Portuguese for Saint Anthony), also known as Santo António do Príncipe, is the main settlement of the island of Príncipe in São Tomé and Príncipe. It lies on the north east coast. It is the capital of the Autonomous Regio ...

and São Miguel, in addition to a chapel to Nossa Senhora da Graça, and later the chapels dedicated to São José and São Francisco (no Casal). During the middle of the 17th century, the municipalities of São João de Areias and Silvares was composed of a municipality governed by Presiding Judge, Councilmen (three for São João de Areias and one for Silvares) and an attorney ''by district Magistrates letter and named His Majesty''. This situation continued until the preceding centuries, until the municipality's extinction.

Geography

* S. João de Areias * Prados * Vila Dianteira * Casas Novas * Cernada * Castelejo * Casal * Silvares * Guarita * S. Miguel * Cancela * Fonte do Ouro * Campolinho * Vale Pinheiro * Póvoa dos Mosqueiros *Quintas: Quinta do Borges & Irmão; Quinta da Mascota; Quinta da Levegada (Cancela), etc.

Architecture

Civic

* Casa das Armas Reais - São João de Areias * Casa de D.ª Georgina Loureiro - Vila Dianteira * Casa do Dr. José da Silva Carvalho - Vila Dianteira * Solar dos Serpa Pimentel - Guarita * Casa dos Neves de Lemos - Póvoa dos Mosqueiros * Pillory of São João de Areias ()

Religious

* Chapel of Senhora da Graça () * Chapel of Cristo () * Chapel of São João Evangelista () * Chapel of São Miguel () * Chapel of São Pedro () * Church of São João Baptista (), the 18th-century parochial church of São João de Areias

Notable citizens

José da Silva Carvalho José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

(1782–1856), labourer of the 1820 Revolution and minister of D. João VI, of D. Pedro IV, and of D.ª Maria II. * Francisco de Serpa Saraiva (1781–1850), first Baron of São João de Areias. * Manuel de Serpa Pimentel (1818–1910), second Baron of São João de Areias.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Joao De Areias Freguesias of Santa Comba Dão Towns in Portugal