Sertã (), officially Sertã Town (), is a municipality in Castelo Branco District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 15,880,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 446.73 km².Eurostat
/ref> The present mayor is José Farinha Nunes, elected by the PSD. The municipal holiday is the June 24.

Etymology

The town's name literally means " frying pan", but is near-certainly a phono-semantic matching of a pre-Roman toponym. This hasn't stopped the creation of all manner of folk etymological legends seeking to explain name of the town, the most famous of which is the so-called "Legend of Celinda", supposedly a Lusitanian woman who had been frying eggs while the settlement was under attack by Quintus Sertorius' forces and, upon learning of her husband's death, poured boiling hot

cooking oil Cooking oil (also known as edible oil) is a plant or animal liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. Oil allows higher cooking temperatures than water, making cooking faster and more flavorful, while likewise distributing h ...

on the besiegers. This story has lent the town its name ().

General information

Local sports club: Sertanense Futebol Clube (mainly devoted to soccer, playing (2004-2005) the 3rd Division Championship). Local newspaper: A Comarca da Sertã (weekly)

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 10 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): :

Notable people

* Nuno Álvares Pereira (born 1360 in Cernache de Bonjardim - 1431) a Portuguese general, he became a mystic and was beatified by Pope Benedict XV, in 1918, and canonised by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

in 2009 * João Castel-Branco Goulão (born 1954 in Cernache do Bonjardim) a physician and the current national drug coordinator for Portugal

References

Populated places in Castelo Branco District Municipalities of Castelo Branco District {{CasteloBranco-geo-stub