Peniche () is a seaside municipality and a city located in the

Leiria District The District of Leiria ( pt, Distrito de Leiria ) is a district located in Centro region of Portugal, divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, on the east wit ...

of Central

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 ...

. It has 26,431 inhabitants, in an area of 77.55 km². The city itself has a population of about 15,600 inhabitants. The present mayor is Henrique Bertino, elected by the independent coalition GCEPP (''Grupo de Cidadãos Eleitores por Peniche''; Electors for Peniche Group of Citizens).

History and landmarks

The city was built on a rocky peninsula which is considered by geologists a unique example of the Toarcian turnover during the worldwide

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...

extinction. Peniche is known for its long beaches, which are popular for recreational activities and sports such as

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, bodyboarding and

kite surfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

. These beaches are consistently windy and have good

surf break Surf or SURF may refer to: Commercial products * Surf (detergent), a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever Computers and software * "Surfing the Web", slang for exploring the World Wide Web * surf (web browser), a lightweight web browse ...

s with ''

Supertubos Supertubos (Portuguese for ''Supertubes'') is a wave and beach located in Peniche, Portugal. The break is the site of the MEO Pro Portugal from the World Surf League Men's and Women's Championship Tour event. The wave did not come into mainstre ...

'', i.e., waves forming fast and powerful tubes, considered among the best in Europe. The area has been called the "European Pipeline", after the

Banzai Pipeline The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipeline or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Peniche Fortress The Peniche Fortress is located in the municipality of Peniche in Leiria District, Portugal. Built on the site of the former Castle of Atouguia da Baleia, of which only a few vestiges remain, initial construction took place in 1557 and 1558 but ...

is a notable example of Portuguese coastal defences. During the authoritarian rule during the 20th Century, known as the Estado Novo, or Second Republic, it was used as a prison for communists and other opponents of the regime. The

Berlengas The Berlengas are a Portuguese archipelago consisting of small Atlantic islands off the coast of Peniche, Portugal, in the Oeste region. These islands were traditionally known to British mariners as "the Burlings". The only inhabited island is ...

islands, about offshore from the peninsula, are part of the municipality. They form one of the world's first

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

s. In summer, the islands can be visited by taking a ferryboat from Peniche. Peniche, with its scenic harbour, white windmills, chapels and long sandy beaches has inspired famous artists like Maurice Boitel.

Climate

Peniche has a

warm-summer 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: ''Csb'') greatly moderated by the

Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, with mild wet winters and cool dry summers. Its low

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...

and little seasonal temperature variation make it remarkably mild year-round. It has a climate very similar to that of

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

only with warmer nights mainly due to the effects of the

Portugal Current North Atlantic currents The Portugal Current is a weak ocean current that flows south along the coast of Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula. Some publications define this current as part of the Canary Current, while others distinguish it as a se ...

. Despite its latitude in central Portugal, the city has one of the mildest winter night-time temperatures in mainland Europe.

Economy

Since ancient times Peniche has been an important fishing harbour. Besides fisheries, the economy of the Peniche municipality relies on agriculture, services and tourism.

Education

Besides schools for primary, secondary and vocational education, Peniche is home to a state-run polytechnic school of the '' Instituto Politécnico de Leiria'', which through its ''Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche'', awards academic degrees in marine technologies and tourism.

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 ...

''): * Atouguia da Baleia * Ferrel * Peniche * Serra d'El-Rei Portugal 2013 - Peniche - 17 (10892815335)

Surfing

Peniche is one of the best

locations in Europe. It has beaches and breaks facing three distinctly different directions, making it a consistent destination for surfers. Home to many surf camps/schools, it annually hosts the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal from the World championship tour of the World Surf League (WSL) at the

beach.

Sports

The football club of the city is called Grupo Desportivo de Peniche. ''Peniche Amigos Clube'' is known nationally for their

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

and

Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

teams. ''Clube Stella Maris'' is known nationally for their

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

teams. The club gives the population a pavilion which hosts many sport-related events. The city annually hosts the ''Triatlo de Peniche'', which unites the Portuguese Cup and the National Universities Championships with the historical event, the first ever in Portugal. The best-known athletes from Peniche are

Telma Santos Telma Santos (born 1 August 1983) is a Portuguese badminton player. She competed for Portugal at the 2012 and at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Santos is the niece of Fernando Silva, a badminton player who also represented Portugal in the 1992 Summer ...

, who has participated in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

in London and the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

in Rio de Janeiro; Silvano Lourenço, the European bodyboarding champion in 2007; and Victoria Kaminskaya who participated in the swimming competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Notable people

* Antônio Ferreira Viçoso (1787-1875) a Portuguese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Mariana, 1843-1875 * Ricardo Costa (1940–2021) a Portuguese film director. Ricardo Costa, IMDb Database
retrieved 25 July 2021. * Albertino João Santos Pereira (1967–2010) stage name ''Beto'', a Portuguese singer. *

Carlos Leitão Carlos Leitão is a Canadian politician in Quebec, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2014 election. He represented the electoral district of Robert-Baldwin as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party until his retirement f ...

(born 1959), Canadian economist and politician *

(born 1983) a Portuguese badminton player, competed at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and

Gallery

File:Remedios peniche portugal azulejos 55a550004.jpg, interiors azulejos of Remedios chapel in Peniche, Portugal File:Azulejos na Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, Peniche (36059786463).jpg, interiors azulejos of Remedios chapel in Peniche, Portugal File:Península de Peniche - Portugal (238698997).jpg, Beach File:Portugal 2011 (6647469299).jpg, Peniche File:Peniche beach 3.jpg, Peniche File:Peniche (25618407450).jpg, Peniche File:Peniche beach 5.jpg, Peniche File:Peniche (31661116951).jpg, Nau dos Corvos, a rock formation that is one of Peniche's landmarks File:Fortaleza de Peniche - Portugal (2006526852).jpg, Old harbour walls at Peniche File:D810 4900 (16626304231).jpg, Peniche File:D810 4908 (16601439656).jpg, Peniche File:D810 5023 (16440676248).jpg,

References

External links

Municipality official website
{{Authority control Cities in Portugal Centro Region Seaside resorts in Portugal Port cities and towns in Portugal Municipalities of Leiria District Tombolos