Lourinhã () is a municipality in the District of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

and in the portuguese Oeste region. The population in 2011 was 25,735,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 147.17 km². The seat of the municipality is the town of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhabitants. The present Mayor is João Duarte, elected by the Socialist Party.

History

The name Lourinhã possibly originated in the period of Roman domination, when 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 ...

was located in the area. The origin of the medieval village is linked to ''Jordan'', a French knight who took part in the successful

Siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action against the Almoravid dynasty that brought the city of Lisbon under the definitive control of the new Christian power, the Kingdom of Portugal. The siege of Lisbon w ...

in 1147. King Afonso Henriques granted Jordan the region of Lourinhã as

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

and allowed him to grant a foral (letter of feudal rights) to its settlers in 1160. The name Lourinhã may be related to the origin of its feudal lord, since Jordan was from the

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

region in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The rights of Lourinhã were confirmed by letters of King Sancho I in 1218 and again by Afonso III in 1258. The parish of Lourinhã became one of the richest of the

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

, as reflected by its main church, a fine example of 14th-century Portuguese

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

. The Gothic works of the main church were sponsored by Lourenço Vicente, a Lourinhã-born Archbishop of Braga who received the village as a donation of King John I in 1384. In the 16th century, the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery of Santo António (1598) and a Misericórdia Church and Charity (1586) were founded in Lourinhã. The Misericórdia (Mercy), a religious charity, now houses a museum with outstanding

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

paintings. The most important paintings are by the hand of a mysterious early 16th-century painter, dubbed the ''Master of Lourinhã'' (Mestre da Lourinhã). Starting at the end of the 19th century, the infrastructure of the municipality was modernised with roads, canalised water and electric light, as well as improvements in the educational system. The economy depended mostly on agriculture and fishing. Tourism is an increasingly important source of revenue, due to the municipality's extensive, picturesque beaches and, more recently, by the paleontological remains from the eponymous

Lourinhã Formation The Lourinhã Formation () is a fossil-rich geological formation in western Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã. The formation is mostly Late Jurassic in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian), with the top of the formation extending into the ...

, which include fossilised bones, footprints, eggs and even embryos from

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s. Many of which can be seen nowadays at the local museum, Museu da Lourinhã. Lourinhã, is one of the few

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

-making areas, besides

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

, Armagnac and Jerez, that have received appellation status.

Civil parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 8 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Lourinhã e Atalaia * Miragaia e Marteleira * Moita dos Ferreiros * Reguengo Grande * Ribamar * Santa Bárbara * São Bartolomeu dos Galegos e Moledo * Vimeiro

Climate

Lourinhã has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Temperatures are never too hot nor too cold.

Population

Beaches

Lourinhã has 12 km of coastline with several popular beaches. *Praia de Areal *Praia da Areia Branca *Praia do Caniçal *Praia de Paimogo *Praia de Vale Frades *Praia de Porto das Barcas *Praia da Peralta

Paleontology

The area of Lourinhã is known by the Late Jurassic findings of dinosaurs and other fossils, and give the name for

. The Museu da Lourinhã holds the main dinosaur collection.

Notable people

* Ana Jorge (born 1949) a pediatrician and a Portuguese politician * Nuno Brás (born 1963) Bishop of Madeira * Fernando Alexandre (born 1985) a Portuguese former footballer with 307 club caps

References

External links

Municipality official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lourinha Municipality Towns in Portugal Municipalities of Lisbon District