Vila Franca de Xira () is a city and municipality in the Lisbon District in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 137,659, in an area of 318.19 km². Situated on both banks of the

Tagus River The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to ...

, 32 km north-east of the Portuguese capital

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 ...

, settlement in the area dates back to

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 ...

times, as evidenced by findings in the Cave of Pedra Furada. Vila Franca de Xira is said to have been founded by French followers of Portugal's first king,

Afonso Henriques Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' ( Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French in ...

, around 1200. The town is mostly famous for its

bull-running Bull running was a custom practised in England until the 19th century. It involved chasing a bull through the streets of a town until it was weakened, then slaughtering the animal and butchering it for its meat. Bull running became illegal in 1835 ...

festivals in July and October. Bulls are raised in the salty marshlands of the Ribatejo, which is also a notable breeding ground for the magnificent Lusitano horse, esteemed for its quick reflexes and maneuverability. A number of brightly coloured

Portuguese bullfighting Portuguese-style bullfighting differs in many aspects from Spanish-style bullfighting, most notably in the fact that the bull is not killed in front of an audience in the arena. The ''cavaleiros'' and the '' forcados'' are unique to the Portugue ...

costumes are on display in the ethnographic museum in the town's bullring, the Praça de Toiros (or Touros) Palha Blanco. Notably, the town was the stage for the eponymously named Vilafrancada in May of 1823. The Vilafrancada was an insurrection led by prince Miguel I of Portugal, son of King

John VI of Portugal , house = Braganza , father = Peter III of Portugal , mother = Maria I of Portugal , birth_date = , birth_place = Queluz Palace, Queluz, Portugal , death_date = , death_place = Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portuga ...

, which sought to reestablish an absolutist monarchy in Portugal. This came in response to the Portuguese Constitution of 1822 - the Kingdom's first constitution - which turned Portugal from an absolutist monarchy to a parlamentarian monarchy. The Vilafrancada can be seen as a prelude to the Portuguese Civil War of 1828-34. In 1951, the town benefited from the completion of the Marechal Carmona Bridge. Located almost equidistantly between Lisbon and Santarém, The town provided an ideal place for a road bridge. The bridge was the first to cross the Tagus in the Lisbon region, and remained its only crossing until the inauguration of the 25 de Abril Bridge fifteen years later. As a result, Vilafranca experienced greater traffic and commercial opportunities during this period. Nearby, the town's Misericórdia church features striking 18th-century

azulejo ''Azulejo'' (, ; from the Arabic ''al- zillīj'', ) is a form of Spanish and Portuguese painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. ''Azulejos'' are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, res ...

s (glazed tiles). The town also has a Museum of Neo-Realism. Three km south of Vila Franca de Xira lies the Lezíria Grande Equestrian Centre, where visitors can watch stylish displays of the impressive Lusitano horses. The centre also stages typical bullfighting spectacles in its outdoor bullring. Visitors can ride Lusitano horses and take dressage lessons at the Quinta de São Sebastião, a sprawling estate at Arruda dos Vinhos, 11 km west of Vila Franca de Xira. The municipality contains several forts built during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

and forming part of the Lines of Torres Vedras. These include the

Fort of Subserra The Fort of Subserra (No. 1), also known as the Fort of Alhandra, is situated at 142 metres above sea level close to Alhandra in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira in the Lisbon District of Portugal. Together with other smaller redoubts and ...

on the first line of defence and the

Forts of Serra da Aguieira The Forts of Serra da Aguieira (Hills of Aguieira) were three forts constructed within 100 metres of each other as part of the second line of defence of the so-called Lines of Torres Vedras, which were constructed by Anglo-Portuguese forces in 181 ...

and the

Fort of Casa The Fort of Casa was the most easterly of the forts and redoubts built in 1809-10 during the Peninsular War on the second line of the three defensive Lines of Torres Vedras aimed at protecting the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. It is situated in th ...

on the second line. Another place of interest, on the left bank, is the

Hermitage of Nossa Senhora de Alcamé The Hermitage of Nossa Senhora de Alcamé (Our Lady of Alcamé) ( pt, Ermida de Nossa Senhora de Alcamé) is situated on the Lezíria flood plain on the left bank of the River Tagus, in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira in the Lisbon Distr ...

, which was built so that farmers on the Tagus floodplain would both have somewhere to pray and also somewhere of safety during floods. An annual pilgrimage is held to the hermitage with participants going by boat from the town of Vila Franca de Xira on the right bank. The current Mayor is Alberto Mesquita, elected in 2013 as a member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

Climate

Vila Franca de Xira 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 ...

with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.

Demographics

Parishes

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 ...

''): * Alhandra, São João dos Montes e Calhandriz * Alverca do Ribatejo e Sobralinho * Castanheira do Ribatejo e Cachoeiras * Póvoa de Santa Iria e Forte da Casa * Vialonga * Vila Franca de Xira

Notable people

Afonso de Albuquerque (with Santiago cloak)

Fernão Álvares da Maia {{Infobox noble, type , name = Fernão Álvares da Maia , title = Lord , image = File:Maia.gif , caption = Coat of Arms of Maia , image_size = 100px , CoA = , more ...

(c.1390-1449) Portuguese nobleman, Lord of Pena, Aguiar, and Trofa *

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

, 1st Duke of Goa (c.1453–1515) a Portuguese general, admiral and statesman; Governor of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515. * José da Costa e Silva (1747–1819) a Portuguese neoclassical architect * Dr José Tomás de Sousa Martins (1843 in Alhandra – 1897) a doctor, worked for the poor *

Reynaldo dos Santos Reynaldo dos Santos (3 December 1880 – 6 May 1970) was a Portuguese physician, writer, and art historian. As a physician, he was a pioneer in the fields of vascular surgery and urology; as an art historian, he published numerous works on 15t ...

(1880 in Rua das Varinas – 1970) a physician, writer, and art historian. * Alves Redol (1911–1969) a Portuguese neorealist writer. *

Octávio Pato Octávio Floriano Rodrigues Pato (1 April 1925, Vila Franca de Xira – 19 February 1999) was a Portuguese communist leader. Biography Octávio started working at 14 in a shoe factory. At the same time he also played soccer on S.L. Benfica's you ...

(1925–1999) PCP activist and candidate in the 1976 presidential election * Ivone Dias Lourenço (1937-2008) an opponent of Estado Novo Govt. & political prisoner * Lili Caneças (born 1944) a Portuguese socialite. * Ana Cristina Silva (born 1964) a Portuguese psychologist, academic and prize-winning novelist. * Paulo Brissos (born 1970) a Portuguese rock, blues, pop and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

singer. * Núria Madruga (born 1980) a Portuguese actress and model. *

Leonor Teles Leonor Teles (or Teles de Meneses; ) was queen consort of Portugal by marriage to King Ferdinand I, and one of the protagonists, along with her brothers and her daughter Beatrice, of the events that led to the succession crisis of 1383–1385, ...

(born 1992) a Portuguese filmmaker. Leonor Teles, IMDb Database
retrieved 05 July 2021. * Wet Bed Gang (formed 2011 in Vialonga) a Portuguese rap and hip hop tuga group

Sport

* José Carlos (born 1941) a former footballer with 299 club caps and 36 for

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 ...

* Bruno Patacas (born 1977) a Portuguese retired footballer with 343 club caps * Nélson Veríssimo (born 1977) a Portuguese former footballer with 426 club caps and manager * Pedro Torrão (born 1977) a Portuguese retired footballer with 312 club caps *

Helena Costa Helena Margarida dos Santos e Costa (born 15 April 1978) is a Portuguese football manager. She is currently Head of Scouting at Watford. Career Costa has a master's degree in sports science and a UEFA A Licence in coaching. From 1997 to 2010, s ...

(born 1978 in Alhandra) a Portuguese football manager. * Diogo Santos (born 1984) a Portuguese footballer with over 400 club caps *

Vera Barbosa Vera Barbosa (born 13 January 1989 in Vila Franca de Xira) is a Portuguese track and field athlete. She initially competed for Cape Verde, switching to represent Portugal after 2008. At the 400 metres hurdles event at the 2012 Summer Olympics ...

(born 1989) a track and field athlete, competed at 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 ...

* Tiago Gomes (born 1985) a Portuguese footballer with over 350 club caps * Ana Catarina (born 1992) a Portuguese futsal goalkeeper *

Rafa Silva Rafa is a masculine given name, mostly as a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Rafael. It may refer to: People * Rafael Nadal (born 1986), Spanish tennis player * Rafa (footballer, born 1985), Spanish footballer Rafael López Gómez * Rafael Ben� ...

(born 1993) a Portuguese footballer with over 240 club caps and 23 for

References

External links

*
Photos from Vila Franca de Xira
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vila Franca De Xira Municipality Cities in Portugal Municipalities of Lisbon District