Amareleja
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Amareleja ( ) is a Portuguese
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of the
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 Moura in the district of Beja. The population in 2011 was 2,564 in an area of .


History

Archeological vestiges from the Roman epoch are found in the north of the village until the margins of the River Ardila, but they suggest the fields of Amaraleja were occupied by various generations during the pre-history of the region. Antas (
dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...
s), burial tombs, wall paintings, flint implements, vestiges of metal smelting and Bronze Age tombs (carved into the hills) have been discovered by farmers or during road construction. Roman remnants include the pavements of buildings, circular burial tombs with bowls and fragments of bone, coins with the inscriptions of Emperor
Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...
, roof tile, masonry and milling stones. In Barranco de Valtamujo there remains of a Roman bridge, that possibly connect to another along the Ardila River, and near the port of Castelo. This bridge provided a daily crossing for the residents along the margins of the Vale de Navarro, which is known for having many vestiges from antiquity. During the reign of Sancho II, the municipal seat of Moura was conquered from the Moors, and a feudal seigneurial system was imposed in the region. Sancho relinquished the village to the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
, who left their marks in the region of Amareleja (including erecting their cross in some sites). Some of the early buildings were influenced by the Order and other high nobles, who sent their shepherds and herds to graze in this part of the Kingdom. Over time a small agglomeration began to form in the area called ''Montinha'', in the place that was later known as ''aldeia velha'' (''old farm''). By November 1481, in the ''Cortes'' of the city of
Évora Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...
, the representatives of the people determined the need to create chapels and hospitals in various
comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...
s of the Kingdom. It was during this meeting that Mareleja began to receive religious attention, but few formal records after 1527 identify what became of these deliberations: it was referenced during King John III's census (1527), identifying a small agglomeration of 55 dwellings. By the end of the 15th century the religious needs of these people led to the construction on Montinha of the ''Igrejinha de Santo António'' (in honour of Saint
Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, Order of Friars Minor, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. ...
, who was considered the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of cattle). By this time the village had already existed for approximately five hundred years. Parish records first identified the location as Amareleja in 1534. Until the present, there has been no firm explanation as to the name of this parish. On 10 April 1677, the parish priest, who published a book referring to the parish of ''Nossa Senhora de Concepsao de Marileiga''. A similar document, dated 1 April 1695, also confirmed this designation and suggest a corruption of the original ''Marileiga''. Another opinion, suggest that the settlement's name derived from the abundant yellow flowers in the region at the time, who the early settlers (likely from Beira Baixa) called ''Campo das Amarelas'' (). Finally, there also exist two properties between the village and the Spanish frontier that have the name ''Amarales'' and ''Amarela'', and may have derived from these place names. Amareleja was a victim of Spanish pillaging during the Restoration Wars; 300 mounted soldiers entered the village and sacked the homes, left, and returned later to re-sack the populace, which put up no resistance. A map from the 18th century, identifying the Alentejo campaigns during this period, shows the encounters between Spanish and Portuguese forces in Marilla (Amarelas) and Pedras, which were places near Amareleja. During one pastoral visit (29 June 1717) by Francisco Taborda described the local church as lacking ornamentation, following the Spanish invasions. Later, an order from the Bishop of Beja on 23 December 1773, to have records of baptisms and marriages sent to the bishopric: consequently, many of these books have disappeared. Many of the older documents from the parish, housed in the ''Torre do Tombo'', refer to 1793. After the
1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...
, which affected most of the country to some degree, the local Matriz Church was damaged. Following these events, the Portuguese archbishopric petitioned Pope Benedict XIV to invoke Saint Francisco de Borja in Portugal's post disaster reconstruction, promising processions throughout the cities and towns in the Kingdom, on the second Sunday in November. Amareleja ceased to belong to the jurisdiction of
Évora Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...
on 23 August 1842 and began to pertain to the district of Beja. On 4 April 1990, in decree 513/V, Amareleja was elevated to the status of village, although the population was less than the 3,000 residents required by law (2758). A parliamentary debate on 8 September suggested that the lack of voters was the result of carelessness on the part of the voters, during the survey. Finally, on 20 June 1991, the Parliament approved the change, and it was enacted on August 16. In 2010, stage 2 of the construction of the Amareleja Photovoltaic Power Station was completed.


Geography and Climate

Amaraleja is situated on the right margin of the Ardila River, in the extreme north of the municipality of Moura, not far from the Spanish border; it is surrounded west by the parishes of Santo Amador and Póvoa de São Miguel, southwest by Safara, southeast by the municipality of Barrancos (parish of Barrancos) and east by the municipality of Mourão (parish of Granja).


Climate

Amareleja 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 ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Csa'') with very hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Nights remain cool throughout the year. It is one of the driest and hottest municipalities in Portugal. Like the rest of
Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...
and
Ribatejo The Ribatejo () is the most central of the traditional provinces of Portugal, with no coastline or border with Spain. The region is crossed by the Tagus river (''Ribatejo'' translates to "upper Tagus", or more precisely, "up the Tagus" relative ...
, Amareleja is very prone to heat waves in the summer months and has recorded one of the highest temperatures ever in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
at . Amareleja records an average of 53 days per year with maximum temperatures equal to or greater than .Extremes
Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, IPMA


Architecture


Civic

* Bridge of the Ardila river () * Bullring of Amareleja () * Casa do Povo of Amareleja () * Garden of Amareleja () * Garducho Biological Station () * New Watermill () * Post of the Fiscal Guard of Amareleja () * Residence of Palmeira () * Roman bridge of the Ardila river () * Watermill of Caveira () * Watermill of Doutores () * Watermill of Serralhão () * Watermill of Vaca () * Watermill of Viegas () * Watermill of Volta ()


Religious

* Chapel of Domingos Garcia () * Chapel of Santo António () * Chapel of São Vicente () * Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição () * Church of Relógio () * Hermitage of Arrochais de Vale Navarro ()


References


Notes


Sources

* {{authority control Freguesias of Moura, Portugal