Santo Tirso () is a city and municipality located in the north of Porto Metropolitan Area, 25 km from central

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, Portugal. In the region, the

Ave Valley The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Ave () is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in 2009. It takes its name from the Ave River. The seat of the intermunicipal community is Guimarães. Ave comprises parts of the former districts o ...

, there is a large center of textile industry. The population in 2011 was 71,530, in an area of 136.60 km². Another important center in the municipality is Aves. The

Santo Tirso Monastery Monastery of Santo Tirso (or also Monastery of São Bento) is a monastery located in the parish of Santo Tirso, municipality of Santo Tirso, in Portugal, that was of the Benedictine Order. The monastery was founded in 978 by Unisco Godins, wife ...

built in 978 is a point of interest.

History

The History of Santo Tirso is tied to its

benedictine monastery , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

. The town grew around it and, from 978 until 1834, it was a "couto" – a neutral area that belonged to the clergy. Known initially as Santo Tirso de Riba de Ave, this city has been the capital of a municipality at least since 1833. Its composition changed throughout the years, especially in 1998, when the nearby city of

Trofa Trofa () is a municipality in the north of the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, 18 km from central Porto. The population in 2011 was 38,999, in an area of 72.02 km². Trofa has a strong industrial park, with various types of industry ...

created its own municipality, taking some of Santo Tirso's towns with it. Towards the middle of the 19th century, Santo Tirso spearheaded the industrialization of the

. One of the first textile factories in the region, the Fábrica de Fiação e Tecidos do Rio Vizela, opened in

Vila das Aves Aves is an industrial town and civil parish (freguesia) in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,458, in an area of 6.16 km².

, part of its municipality, in 1845. This factory would become the largest of its kind in Portugal, with an area of about nine square kilometres and employing, at one point, over 3.000 people.

Geography

The highest point in the municipality is in the Alto de S. Jorge, in the parish of Refojos, with 527 meters of altitude. The municipality's current perimeter is .

Climate

Santo Tirso has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

with warm to hot summers and mild, very wet winters.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 14 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Agrela * Água Longa * Areias, Sequeiró, Lama e Palmeira * Aves * Carreira e Refojos de Riba de Ave * Lamelas e Guimarei * Monte Córdova * Rebordões * Reguenga * Roriz * Santo Tirso, Couto (Santa Cristina e São Miguel) e Burgães * São Tomé de Negrelos * Vila Nova do Campo * Vilarinho

Sports

Santo Tirso is home of the historic football club Futebol Clube Tirsense and

C.D. Aves Clube Desportivo das Aves (), commonly known as Desportivo das Aves, or simply as Aves, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso. The club was founded on 12 November 1930 and plays at the Estádio do Clube ...

Notable people

Luís Gonzaga Ferreira da Silva Luís Gonzaga Ferreira da Silva, S.J. (2 April 1923 – 7 August 2013) was a Portuguese Prelate of the Catholic Church. Silva was born in Rebordões, Portugal and ordained a priest on 11 July 1953 from the religious order of the Society of Jesu ...

(1923–2013) a Prelate of the Catholic Church & bishop of the Diocese of Lichinga * Sofia Andrade (born 1988) a Portuguese politician

Sport

Alberto Festa Alberto Augusto Antunes Festa (born 21 July 1939) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a right back. Club career Born in Santo Tirso, Porto District, Festa started and finished his 17-year senior career with local club F.C. Tirse ...

(born 1939) a retired footballer with 143 club caps and 19 for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

* José Pacheco (born 1942) a former cyclist, competed at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Quim Machado Joaquim Machado Gonçalves (born 10 October 1966), known as Quim Machado, is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a right back, and is a current manager of Saudi club Al-Orobah. In his playing days, he achieved Primeira Liga totals of ...

(born 1966) a former footballer with 320 club caps a current manager. *

Gaspar Azevedo José Gaspar da Silva Azevedo (born 1 June 1975), known simply as Gaspar, is a Portuguese retired professional association football, footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Gaspar was born in Santo Tirso, Porto District. During t ...

(born 1975) known as ''Gaspar'', a retired footballer with 429 club caps * Ricardo Rocha (born 1978) a retired footballer with 362 club caps and 6 for

Pedro Moutinho Pedro da Silva Moutinho (born 9 September 1979) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a centre forward. He spent most of his career in Scotland with Falkirk (three spells, 161 overall appearances and 23 goals). Professionally, other ...

(born 1979) a retired footballer with 343 club caps * Orlando Neto (born 1979), known as ''Orlando'', a former footballer with 386 club caps * Rui Pedro Silva (born 1981) a track and field, long distance and cross country athlete, competed at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

& 2012 Summer Olympics *

Sara Moreira Sara Isabel Fonseca Moreira (; born 17 October 1985) is a Portuguese runner who competes in cross country, road running and in middle-distance and long-distance track events. She represents Sporting CP at club level. After ...

(born 1985) a cross country, road, middle & long distance track runner.

References

External links

Santo Tirso City Fporum

F.C. Tirsense

On-line Journal Santo Tirso.eu

Online Santo Tirso Portal
{{Authority control Cities in Portugal Municipalities of Porto District