Valongo () 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 ...

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 go ...

located in the District of Porto and 10 km from

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, in the northern region of

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 ...

. The municipality area consists of 75.12 km² and 93 858 inhabitants (2011), and is subdivided into four parishes. The municipality is limited to the north by the municipality of

Santo Tirso Santo Tirso () is a city and municipality located in the north of Porto Metropolitan Area, 25 km from central Porto, Portugal. In the region, the Ave Valley, there is a large center of textile industry. The population in 2011 was 71,530, in ...

, to the northeast by

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

, to the east by Paredes, to the southwest by Gondomar and to the west by

Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daugh ...

. It consists of the cities of Alfena,

Ermesinde Ermesinde is a civil parish in the municipality (''concelho'') of Valongo, in continental Portugal, northeast of Porto. The population in 2011 was 38940,D. Maria II. However, human occupation of this region predates the Roman conquest of the Iberian-Peninsula.

Ancient history

This region was occupied by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, especially for gold mining in the Serra de Santa Justa. One of the traces of Roman occupation is in the municipality name, which originated in the Latin words ''Vallis Longus''. There are still traces that would allow the detection of two main Roman connecting roads that would cross the municipality: the

- Guimarães road and the Alfena - Valongo - Aguiar de Sousa /

Penafiel Penafiel ( or () is a municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the northern Portuguese district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion, the population was 72,265 in 2011, in an area of . History The region ...

road. This region would then be occupied by barbarian peoples ( Suebi and

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

) and later by

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

. According to Father Lopes dos Reis, a native of Valongo, “the Moors entered Hespanha enthusiastic about the holy war with the alfange in one hand and Alkorão in the other, taking over with their powerful army all the places they could pass through. In Vallongo, perhaps there was no blood at all, because the inhabitants, few and without defense, could only fearlessly try to prevent the passage to a powerful enemy from whom they had known that an army of brave people had fled in terror. That is why, when the Arabs arrived in Vallongo (716), they left their people in peace without writing it, and by means of a certain tribute they gave them the freedom to live as they did here, going to settle far from the Goda settlement, which occupied the Susão and the western part of the villa, on the plain at the edge of a stream that was later called Ilhar Mourisco.” After the '' reconquest'' of ''Portus Cale'' (

) by

Vímara Peres Vímara PeresVímara is an originally Visigothic name of Germanic origin (cognate with Weimar or Guimar) and Peres is a patronymic, meaning son of Pedro or Peter. The name can then be equated to Weimar/Guimar Peterson. (died in Galicia, 873) w ...

in 868, he was named a count and given control of the frontier region between the

Limia ''Limia'' is a genus of livebearing fishes belonging to the Cyprinodontiform family Poeciliidae, which includes other livebearers such as platys, swordtails (genus ''Xiphophorous''), guppies and mollies (genus ''Poecilia''). They are found i ...

and

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

rivers by Alfonso III of Asturias, therefore bringing the region under control of the

Kingdom of Asturias The Kingdom of Asturias ( la, Asturum Regnum; ast, Reinu d'Asturies) was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius. It was the first Christian political entity established after the Umayyad conquest of ...

Middle ages

From the General Inquiries of 1258, the current municipality was divided at the time between the parish of Aguiar de Sousa - which included S. Martinho de Campo and Sobrado, and the ''parish'' of

, which included S.Vicente da Queimadela, Valongo and S. Lourenço de Asmes. From the economic and social point of view, at this time, the ownership of land was the basis of the economy and the main element of survival and power. In the area of the municipality, land belonged to the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and the

Clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

- particularly the Regular Clergy. The appearance of new settlements, the progressive extension of the term of existing settlements, the multiplication of suffragan chapels and the division of property, is evidence of the notorious demographic growth of this region over the centuries. This increase in population was accompanied by the progressive development of other sectors of the economy. Industry and commerce, initially based on incipient forms, acquire a strong expression in the economy. The traditional bakery industry is an excellent example of this: its origins date back to the Low Middle Ages, but the development of wheat bread is such a development, which allowed Valongo bakers to feed the entire surrounding region and with the product of their work. This, in turn, allows them to make a decisive contribution. for the construction of the new church, the Igreja Matriz de Valongo, whose construction dates to the end of the 18th century.

19th century

At the dawn of the 19th century, Valongo experiences the hardship of the presence of Napoleon's troops, during the French Invasions. A division settled in Valongo, turning the church into a stable and plundering values from individuals and the church. These lands, therefore, served as a stage for battles and military movements that took place between the two straying brothers: D. Pedro, on the side of the Liberals, D. Miguel, on the part of the Miguelists/Absolutists. During this period two important battles take place: the Battle of Ponte Ferreira and the Battle of the Ant. In Ermesinde, the former Convent of Nª. Mr. do Bom Despacho (now, the Church of St. Rita), became a military hospital for Miguelists forces. By decree published on November 29, 1836, D. Maria II creates the Municipality of Valongo with the parishes of Sobrado, Campo and Gandra (which belonged to the Municipality of Baltar) and Alfena, Ermesinde and Valongo (which belonged to the Municipality of Maia) . On May 18, 1852, there was a lunch at Travagem offered by the Municipality chamber to the Royal Family composed of Queen D. Maria II, King D. Fernando II, then prince D. Pedro (future D. Pedro V) and then prince D. Luís (future D. Luís I). This lunch took place on the last visit of D. Maria II to the north of Portugal in the form of thanks for the creation of the Municipality of Valongo in 1836. Years later, there would be another royal visit, this time by D. Luís and D. Maria Pia. "For a long time, there was still talk with great admiration of the gigantic and beautiful arches that were made in many places of passage of the procession and that gave the celebrations an admirable splendor." Between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th century, large farming houses were built in all villages whose rural nature. The road network was developed within the limits of the municipality, which began being served by transport such as the electric car and the train. The main artery of Valongo and Ermesinde saw the opening of commercial establishments. During this time, the local population increased with the arrival of people from the interior of Portugal. By the middle of the 19th century, the region became an attractive site for the

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

of slate, but also of

antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

. At the borders of Ermesinde, large factories were set up, such as “Resineira”, “Cerâmica” - “Empresa Industrial de Ermesinde” and “Têxtil de Sá”, among others. The Municipality became the site for the expansion of industries such as metallurgy, textile manufacting, civil construction, public works, food,

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

and furniture. Compared to the other parishes, Campo and Sobrado retain a greater level of rurality. The

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

regime sustain their living with traditional productions - the vine, the corn and the fodder, which is linked to the production of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

. New crops such as kiwiculture and also were introduced to the region.

Demographics

''(Obs.: Number of inhabitants (Residents))'' ''(Obs: From 1900 until 1950, data refers to the facto population, who were present in the region. Hence, some differences can be expected relative to the resident population.)''

Administration

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 4 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Alfena * Campo e Sobrado *

Ermesinde Ermesinde is a civil parish in the municipality (''concelho'') of Valongo, in continental Portugal, northeast of Porto. The population in 2011 was 38940,christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

) and ''Mourisqueiros'' ( non-believers) by the possession 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 ...

, alongside other folk and everyday lives activities. Slate There's a strong presence of slate

industry and different transformative industries associated with slate, whose industrialization began in the 19th century and matured in the 20th century. Slate was formed 350 million years ago by a metamorphosis of shale, clay and volcanic ash that results to a fine-grained foliated rock. Common application and uses of slate can be found in writing slates, blackboards, as a

roofing material Domestic roof construction is the framing and roof covering which is found on most detached houses in cold and temperate climates. Such roofs are built with mostly timber, take a number of different shapes, and are covered with a variety of ma ...

, for

billiard table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that ...

tops and in the decoration industry. The Slate Museum (''Museu da Lousa'') is located in the town of Campo. Portuguese traditional toys Alfena is home to an industry of handmade portuguese traditional toys, made using different kinds of available, and often recycled, materials including paper, wood, plate, celluloid and plastic. Toys often depict objects used in daily tasks. ''Regueifa'' and Biscuits Regueifa is a form of bread popular in northern Portugal. The manufacture of bread in Valongo has been documented since the Middle Ages. In addition to being an indispensable daily food, a means of paying forums, it is likely that the biscuit was part of the sailors' rations during the period of the discoveries, thus paving the way for the manufacture of the biscuit that we know today. With the introduction of American big corn, the bread came to prominence and with the French invasions the “''mollet''” started to be produced. Currently, regueifa is considered a delicacy in the world of bread, with the regueifa of Valongo being famous in northern Portugal.

Notable people

* António Dias de Oliveira (1804-1863) the

President of the Council of Ministers The President of the Council of Ministers (sometimes titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers) is the most senior member of the cabinet in the executive branch of government in some countries. Some Presidents of the Council of Ministers are th ...

in 1837. * Josué Pesqueira (born 1990), known as ''Josué,'' a footballer with over 260 club caps and 4 for

References

External links

Cities in Portugal Municipalities of Porto District {{porto-geo-stub