Amadora () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and urbanized

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 northwest of the

Lisbon metropolitan area The Lisbon Metropolitan Area ( pt, Área Metropolitana de Lisboa; abbreviated as AML) is a metropolitan area in Portugal centered on Lisbon, the capital and largest city of the country. The metropolitan area, covering 18 municipalities is the l ...

and 10 km from central

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

. The population in 2011 was 175,136,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 23.78 km² (9.2 sq mi). It is the most densely populated municipality in Portugal.

History

There is significant evidence of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

settlements in the municipality. The

Necropolis of Carenque The Necropolis of Carenque ( pt, Necrópole de Carenque) is an archaeological site consisting of three well-preserved late Neolithic collective sepulchres or tombs, dating back to about 3000 BCE, which are dug into smooth limestone outcrops. It i ...

consists of three artificial caves that served as tombs from around 3000 BCE. Originally named ''Porcalhota'', for being a Majorat of the daughter of a man surnamed ''Porcalho'' who was called for being a female ''Porcalhota''. The Aqueduto das Águas Livres, which brings water from the

Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populate ...

hills to

, and stretches , was finished in the 1770s and includes the largest masonry arch ever built, located in Campolide — the local coat of arms also displays the aqueduct (like others along its way). At the request of its population, in 1907, a decree issued during King

Carlos I Carlos I may refer to: *Carlos I of Spain (1500–1558), also Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire *Carlos I of Portugal ''Dom'' Carlos I (; English: King Charles of Portugal; 28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), known as the Diplomat ( pt, ...

reign, merged the communities of Porcalhota, Amadora and Venteira into one town named Amadora. At the present time Amadora does not have any airfield. However, in the 1920s a small airfield (the first in Portugal) was located here. The first flight from Portugal to Brazil left from Amadora. The Captain of the airplane was Adm.

Gago Coutinho Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho, GCTE, GCC, generally known simply as Gago Coutinho (; 17 February 1869 – 18 February 1959) was a Portuguese geographer, cartographer, naval officer, historian and aviator. An aviation pioneer, Gago Coutinho and Sac ...

, a well known Portuguese celebrity. The municipality was formed on 11 September 1979, when it ceased being a parish of the municipality of Oeiras. A few days later, on 17 September, Amadora was granted city status. The former

Sorefame Sorefame (an abbreviation of ''Sociedades Reunidas de Fabricações Metálicas'') was a Portuguese manufacturer of railway rolling stock and industrial equipment, such as dam gates equipment. The company was established in 1943. In the 1990s the ...

railway rolling stock factory was located in Amadora, but was closed in 2004. Most of the carriages for Portuguese Railways built during the second half of the 20th century were constructed here.

Geography

One of the largest urban communities in Portugal, Amadora forms a

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cas ...

with

, sharing the same subway, bus and train networks. It is dominated by large apartment blocks, commercial parks, industrial areas and some headquarters of international companies. Administratively, the municipality is divided into 6 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 ...

''): * Águas Livres *

Alfragide Alfragide () is a parish in Amadora Municipality. The population in 2011 was 17,044,

Encosta do Sol Encosta do Sol is a civil parish in the municipality of Amadora Amadora () is a municipality and urbanized city in the northwest of the Lisbon metropolitan area and 10 km from central Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 175,136, in an area of ...

Falagueira-Venda Nova Falagueira-Venda Nova is a civil parish in the municipality of Amadora Amadora () is a municipality and urbanized city in the northwest of the Lisbon metropolitan area and 10 km from central Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 175,136, in an ...

Mina de Água Mina de Água is a civil parish in the municipality of Amadora Amadora () is a municipality and urbanized city in the northwest of the Lisbon metropolitan area and 10 km from central Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 175,136, in an area of ...

Venteira Venteira is a civil parish in the municipality of Amadora Amadora () is a municipality and urbanized city in the northwest of the Lisbon metropolitan area and 10 km from central Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 175,136, in an area of 23.78 ...

Climate

Amadora 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 ...

( Köppen: ''Csa'') with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers.

Economy

Despite being a residential city, Amadora has commercial zones, industries and headquarters of international companies operating in Portugal. As commercial zones, it has

IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been ...

, Nokia, Decathlon, Alegro, Continente and ''Ubbo'' (one of the biggest shopping malls in Europe).

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

and

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...

are examples of international companies based in Amadora.

Transport

Amadora's public transport network is extremely far-reaching and reliable, being fully integrated with the transportation network of the

. It has 3 metro stations, the commuter Sintra train line with 3 stations, 2 bus services (Vimeca and Carris) and 4 motorways around the city (2ª Circular, CRIL, CREL and IC-16).

Notable people

* Seomara da Costa Primo (1895 - 1986 in Amadora) a botany professor, educator and author of school textbooks on scientific subjects * Cruzeiro Seixas (1920 – 2020) a ''"man who paints"'' and a Portuguese poet * Maria José Valério (1933–2021) a Portuguese singer, she sang popular music and

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

. * Marcelino da Mata (1940 in Ponte Nova – 2021 in Amadora) a highly decorated Portuguese Army officer, born in

Portuguese Guinea Portuguese Guinea ( pt, Guiné), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...

* João Baião (born 1963 in Buraca) a TV presenter, entertainer and actor. * José Miguel Ribeiro (born 1966 in Amadora) a Portuguese film director.

Sport

* Jorge Jesus (born 1954) a football manager and former player; former manager of Benfica *

Rui Costa Rui Manuel César Costa (; born 29 March 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who is the 34th president of sports club S.L. Benfica. He also succeeded Luís Filipe Vieira as president of the club's SAD board of directors. ...

(born 1972) a retired footballer with 498 club caps and 94 with

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 th ...

* Vasco Matos (born 1980) a Portuguese retired professional footballer with 405 club caps * Diogo Silva (born 1983 in Amadora) a Portuguese footballer with over 300 club caps * Nani (born 1986) a footballer with close to 400 club caps and 112 with

* Miguel Tavares (born 1993) a volleyball player with the

Portugal men's national volleyball team The Portugal men's national volleyball team is the team representing Portugal in volleyball competitions. Their best results to date are winning the 2010 Men's European Volleyball League in Spain, the second place in the 2007 Men's European V ...

* Diana Silva (born 1995) a footballer who plays for

Aston Villa W.F.C. Aston Villa Women Football Club is the women's football team of Aston Villa, currently playing in the English women's Super League. The club has been in existence since 1973. Originally titled ''Solihull F.C.'', the team affiliated to Aston Vil ...

and the Portugal women's national football team * Rúben Dias (born 1997) a footballer who plays for Manchester City F.C. and has 37 caps with

Renato Sanches Renato Júnior Luz Sanches (; born 18 August 1997) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Portugal national team. Sanches began his career at Benfica, making his profes ...

(born 1997) a footballer who plays for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and has 32 caps with

Gallery

File:View_of_Portas_de_Benfica,_CRIL_and_Benfica.JPG, CRIL (''Circular Regional Interior de Lisboa'') in Amadora, Lisbon File:Alfragide_norte,_outubro_2017.jpg, Condos in the parish of Alfragide File:Amadora_-_Ciencia_Viva.jpg, ''Centro Ciência Viva da Amadora'', Lisbon File:Amadora_-_Igreja.jpg, Amadora, Lisbon Region File:Damaia_-_Ferrovia_-_Amadora.jpg, Damaia Main Train Station, Amadora File:FCM_DOLCEVITA_TEJO.jpg, Amadora, Lisbon File:MetroAlfornelos5.JPG,

Lisbon Metro The Lisbon Metro ( pt, Metropolitano de Lisboa) is the rapid transit system in Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first metro system in Portugal. , the system's four lines total of route and serve 56 stations. History ...

in Alfornelos, Amadora

Culture

Every year, Amadora city organizes the Amadora International Comics Festival.Amadora International Comics Festival official website
Accessed July 5, 2017.

References

External links

Amadora International Comics Festival
- official festival Web site
Photos from AMADORA

- media information
https://www.municipiosefreguesias.pt/municipio/1/camara-municipal-da-amadora
- Portal Nacional dos Municípios e Freguesias - Município da Amadora {{Authority control Amadora, Cities in Portugal Populated places in Lisbon District Municipalities of Lisbon District