Porto de Mós () is a town and a

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' ...

of Estremadura province in

Leiria District The District of Leiria ( ) is a district located between the Oeste e Vale do Tejo and Centro regions of Portugal, and divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, ...

. It is in the

Centro Region The Central Region (, ) or Central Portugal is one of the statistical regions of Portugal. The cities with major administrative status inside this region are Coimbra, Aveiro, Viseu, Leiria, Castelo Branco and Guarda. It is one of the seven Regi ...

and the Pinhal Litoral subregion. The population in 2011 was 24,342,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 261.83 km². There were archeologic findings which link São Jorge, in the parish of Calvaria de Cima, as the exact place where the

Battle of Aljubarrota The Battle of Aljubarrota was fought between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile on 14 August 1385. Forces commanded by King John I of Portugal and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira, with the support of English allies, opposed the a ...

was fought, crucial for maintaining the independence of Portugal in 1385. Currently, there is an interpretation center on the spot (Centre of Interpretation of the Battle of Aljubarrota) which helps visitors explore the

battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

and learn about the most important facts of this battle. In this municipality, you can also find several

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s carved in the mountains, the most important being Moinhos Velhos Cave, also known as Mira de Aire Cave. A portion of the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park is also located in Porto de Mós municipality.

History

According to Nazaré's legend, the knight D. Fuas Roupinho, miraculated by Our Lady of Nazareth, in 1182, was the mayor of Porto de Mós. According to other sources, he defeated a large Muslim army that surrounded the castle, using the trick of hiding in the hills beforehand with part of his men. He defeated the enemy with a surprise attack on his camp during the night. The county of Porto de Mós belonged to the Coutos de Alcobaça in 1230, donated by D. Sancho II, influencing for many centuries the life and habits of this region that was later given, by D. João I, to D. Nuno Álvares Pereira and to the House of Bragança, after the decisive

, on 14 August 1385. In 1895 the county of Porto de Mós was extinct and became part of the county of Alcobaça, however this period was short-lived, since in 1898 it regained the status of county, but without the parish of Minde which joined the county of

Torres Novas Torres Novas () is a Portugal, Portuguese Concelho, municipality in the district of Santarém (district), Santarém, in the Médio Tejo Subregion, Médio Tejo of the Oeste e Vale do Tejo region. The population of the municipality was approximately ...

. The town received a charter from King Dinis in 1305 and later received the Manueline charter from King Manuel in 1515.

Geography

Porto de Mós is located in Portugal's Central Region, in the heart of the Aire and Candeeiros Mountains Natural Park. From a morphological point of view, three sub-units can be distinguished in the Estremadura Limestone Massif of PNSAC - the Candeeiros Mountains to the west, the Santo António Plateau to the centre and south, and the São Mamede Plateau and the Aire Mountains, to the north and east, respectively. Separating these sub-units are three depressions caused by large fractures, respectively the Mendiga Depression, the Mira-Minde Cliff and the Alvados Depression. Despite the absence of surface water courses in this region, water exists in abundance underground, constituting one of the largest underground freshwater reservoirs in our country that stretches between Rio Maior and

Leiria Leiria () is a city and municipality in the Central Region, Portugal, Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, after Coimbra, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat o ...

. The action of the waters, as a physical-chemical agent modelling the limestones, originated a landscape marked by characteristic relief forms, such as scarps and rocky outcrops, which give it a vigorous feature. Among these forms we can also highlight the lapiatic fields and the dolines. At subterranean level the "algares" stand out - natural vertical openings - in some cases tens of metres long, and which sometimes develop in depth through systems of galleries, rooms and wells which, as a whole, form caves.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 10 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Alqueidão da Serra * Alvados e Alcaria *

Arrimal e Mendiga Arrimal e Mendiga (officially União das Freguesias de Arrimal e Mendiga) is a civil parish in the municipality of Porto de Mós, Portugal. The population in 2021 was 1,575, in an area of 38.58 km2. It was formed on 28 January 2013 by the merging ...

* Calvaria de Cima * Juncal * Mira de Aire * Pedreiras * Porto de Mós * São Bento * Serro Ventoso

Notable people

* Ruth Garcês (1934–2006 in Porto de Mós) a Portuguese lawyer, magistrate and judge. She was the first female magistrate and the first female judge in Portugal. * Olga Silvestre (1964– ) is a Portuguese lawyer and a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic representing the Leiria constituency,

Gallery

File:Castelo de Porto de Mós 10.jpg File:A Renaissance beauty (41069623054).jpg File:Porto de Mós - panoramio (2).jpg File:Find your way back home (41069641794).jpg File:Grutas de Mira Daire.jpg, Mira de Aire Caves

References

Populated places in Leiria District Municipalities of Leiria District Towns in Portugal {{Leiria-geo-stub