Valpaços () is a municipality in northern

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 ...

. The population in 2011 was 16,882,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 548.74 km².

History

The first documents that cite Valpaços date back to the 12th century. Its

toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

evolved from pre-national settlements, and started as a small enclave inhabited by nobles and signeurial family estates, attracted by the privileges given for settling so close to the Castilian border. The nascent Portuguese community was susceptible to attacks from Castile. The establishment of border settlements fixed the border. Historically, ''Vale de Paço'' (and later ''Vale de Paços'' until the 19th century) was an area with roots in the Roman period of settlement, yet influenced by Germanic settlers before Portugal became a Kingdom. The most important event in the regions history occurred in the 19th century. On 16 November 1846, during the

Patuleia The Patuleia, Guerra da Patuleia, or Little Civil War was a civil war in Portugal, so called to distinguish it from the 'great' civil war between Dom Pedro and Dom Miguel that ended in 1834. The Patuleia occurred after the Revolution of Maria ...

conflict, a movement that was apolitical turned bloody, resulting in the deaths of 200 people, before the battle proceeded into the lands of

Murça Murça () is a municipality in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,952, in an area of 189.37 km². It is situated in the central part of the eastern district of Vila Real, and consigned to the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro region. ...

Geography

Valpaços is located in the northern interior of Portugal in the

Alto Trás-os-Montes Alto Trás-os-Montes (), or ''Nordeste Transmontano'', is a former NUTS-level 3 subregion of the Norte Region of Portugal. It was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision. Its 15 municipalities occupied an area of in the north-east of cont ...

region, and part of the district of

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality cover ...

. It is confined in the north by the municipality of Chaves, to the east by

Mirandela Mirandela () is a city and a municipality in northeastern Portugal. The city itself has a population of about 15,000. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 23,850, in an area of 658.96 km². Mirandela is famous for its cuisine, par ...

and

Vinhais Vinhais (; cel-x-proto, Veniatia) is a municipality in the district of Bragança, northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 9,066, in an area of 694.76 km2. The present mayor is Américo Afonso Pereira, elected by the Socialist Party. T ...

, to the south by

and

and in the west by Chaves and Vila Pouca de Aguiar. From north to south, the Transmontanan relief is exemplified by planar stretches of the Iberian Meseta, with altitudes between 700–800 metres above sea level, tending to have a regular profile north of the

Douro River 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 ...

. Regional and national connections between the municipality and its neighbours are completed across several of its primary and secondary roadways: the 213 (Chaves–Valpaços-Mirandela-Vila Flor); the 103 (Viana do Castelo-Braga–Chaves-Bragança); the 206 (Vila do Conde–Valpaços–Bragança); and the 314 (Chaves–Carrazedo de Montenegro-Murça IP4). The important link is the 206 to A24, which links Valpaços with Vila Real, Viseu and internationally to Spain (Espanha–Verin-A52 roadway), and the national A7 which permits a rapid connection with the coast (Guimarães, Braga and Porto). The ancillary connection to the national 213 also permits a rapid connection to the IP4, which links Valpaços with Porto, Vila Real and Bragança.

Climate

Valpaços has a dry,

hot-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 ...

with cold, moderately wet winters and dry summers.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 25 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 ...

''): * Água Revés e Crasto * Algeriz * Bouçoães * Canaveses * Carrazedo de Montenegro e Curros * Ervões * Fornos do Pinhal * Friões * Lebução, Fiães e Nozelos * Padrela e Tazem * Possacos * Rio Torto * Santa Maria de Emeres * Santa Valha * Santiago da Ribeira de Alhariz * São João da Corveira * São Pedro de Veiga de Lila * Serapicos * * Tinhela e Alvarelhos * Vales * Valpaços e Sanfins * Vassal * Veiga de Lila * Vilarandelo

Notable people

* Luís de Azevedo (1573-1634) a Portuguese Jesuit scholar and missionary to Ethiopia. *

Manuel Buíça Manuel dos Reis da Silva Buíça (31 December 1875 – 1 February 1908) was a Portuguese schoolteacher and soldier involved in the regicide of King Carlos I of Portugal and Prince Royal, Luís Filipe, during the events that became known as the Li ...

(1876–1908) a Portuguese schoolteacher and soldier involved in the Lisbon Regicide. * Maria da Assunção Esteves (born 1956) a politician, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal & MEP * Ricardo Chaves (born 1977) a retired footballer with 382 club caps.

References