Almoçageme (pronounced: Al-mu-sa-jè-mê) is a village on the Portuguese

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

Sintra Sintra (, ), officially the Town of Sintra (), is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2021 was 385,654, in an area of . Sintra is one of the ...

and in the

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 Portuguese over ...

of Colares. The name Almoçageme is obviously

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

in origin – the Iberian peninsula is packed with

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

toponyms 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 nam ...

that are a legacy of the five hundred years the

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

stayed over. One possible root is from ''al-masjid'' or ''al-mesijide'', meaning “the mosque” – although there are no testimonies of one having been around. Local festivities honoring Nossa Senhora da Graça take place on the first Sunday of October and last eight days. There are

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

ruins of a “

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

” in this most occidental spot of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, dating from the 2nd century CE. These were unearthed in 1905 during the construction of a road (Estrada do Rodizio) linking Almoçageme with the spectacular beach of

Praia Grande Praia Grande is a municipality in the Baixada Santista Metropolitan Region, on the southern coast of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is part of the Immediate Region of Santos and its population measured in the IBGE census review in 2010 ...

. Excavations are under way in the

Roman villa of Santo André de Almoçageme The Roman ruins of Santo Andre de Almoçageme () is a Portuguese archaeological site located in the rural civil parish of Colares, in the municipality of Sintra. It includes a group of structures with typological, stylistic or historic value, who ...

and the findings are sent to the

Archaeological Museum of São Miguel de Odrinhas Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

– a 40-minute drive away. Almoçageme boasts the beach of

Adraga Praia da Adraga is a North Atlantic beach in Portugal, near to the town of Almoçageme, Sintra. It has been recommended in British newspapers.''Pure shores: 10 top Portuguese beaches'' The Independent, June 6, 2004 accessed August 3, 2006. I ...

with a vintage fish restaurant right by the sand that is the delight of the visitor.

References

External links

Junta de Freguesia of Colares Web Site
Villages in Portugal {{Lisbon-geo-stub