Murça (), officially the Town of Murça (), is a municipality in northern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The population in 2011 was 5,952,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 189.37 km². It is situated in the central part of the eastern district of

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the Norte, Portugal, North region, Portugal. It is also the seat of the Douro (intermunicipal community), Douro Intermunicipal communities of Portugal, intermunicipal comm ...

, and consigned to the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro region. The town of Murça, seat of the municipal government, is on average 40 kilometres from many of the major urban centres of the region.

History

Although there are no clear references to the origin of this community, most suspect that it extends to

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic period, primarily due to the ''Porca de Murça'' (), a celebrated monument to a wild boar (and presumably a Celtic divinity). The first references to the region of Murça appeared in the ''Inquirições'' (inquiries/inventory) of King Afonso II. Municipal autonomy became a reality in the 13th century, when King Sancho II issued a foral (charter) on 8 May 1224. This was later confirmed and elaborated by Afonso III on 10 January 1268. Similar charters were elaborated on 18 April 1304 and 9 May 1512, by Kings Denis and Manuel, respectively. During the Liberal Revolution (18th century) Murça five Counts were honoured by King

John VI of Portugal '' Dom'' John VI (; 13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826), known as "the Clement" (), was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves from 1816 to 1825, and after the recognition of Brazil's independence, titular Emperor of Brazil ...

. In the 20th century, an administrative commission () was created on 2 January 1908, by the ''Partido Regenerador Liberal'' (), to promote local politics, in order to realize the regions first elections. The Regenerator Party was successful in these early elections, resulting in the taking of office of Father João M. Ribalonga, who would guide the administration of the municipality from 30 November 1908 until the

5 October 1910 Revolution 5 October 1910 Revolution () was the overthrow of the centuries-old List of Portuguese monarchs, Portuguese monarchy and its replacement by the First Portuguese Republic. It was the result of a ''coup d'état'' organized by the Portuguese Repub ...

. The first republican municipal commission was elected on 19 March 1911. During the Estado Novo regime (1933-1974) the first municipal regalia, including coat-of-arms, flag and seal, were established, in addition to the changing of many road names. After the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

(25 April 1974), there was a great upheaval in local government, that forced a democratic structure and implemented many dynamic changes to financial and political laws.

Geography

Murça can be identified in terms of three subregions in the Trás-os-Montes: the ''Terra Quente'' (), the ''Terra Fria'' () and the ''Zona de Montanha'' (), with their own distinct natural, social and cultural characteristics. There are distinct contrasts in the villages and towns of Trás-os-Montes, with hot summers and icy winters, in lands that are marked by granite mountain faces, schist walls and steep or shallow valleys. The green forests and granite rocks of the Serra da Garraia or ''Parque Florestal de Mascanho'' (Mascanho Forest Park) dominate the north portions of the municipality, as does the chestnut forest of Jou and Vilares. Between many of the mountains and plains are olive orchards, part of the ''Rota de Azeite'' (), and interspersed by wheat fields or almond trees in flower, or the vineyards of the Alto Douro. Administratively, the municipality is divided into 7 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Candedo * Carva e Vilares * Fiolhoso * Jou * Murça * Noura e Palheiros * Valongo de Milhais

Notable people

* Inácio do Nascimento de Morais Cardoso (1811–1883) a

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the Roman Catholic Church and Patriarch of Lisbon. * Aníbal Milhais (1895 in Valongo de Milhais – 1970) was the most decorated Portuguese soldier of World War I; nicknamed ''"Soldado Milhões"'' for being "worth a million men".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murca Municipality Municipalities of Vila Real District