Bordeira 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 ...

in the municipality of

Aljezur Aljezur (), officially the Town of Aljezur (), is a town and municipality of the District of Faro and Algarve region, in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,884, in an area of 323.50 km2. The municipality comprises 4 parishes. History ...

. The population in 2011 was 432,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 79.87 km². It lies within the

Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park (PNSACV) is a natural park located in southwest Portugal. It occupies an area of ( on land and at sea) and is one of the last strongholds of the wild European coast. It has one of the highest ...

, along the western coast of the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

Faro District Faro District ( ) is the southernmost district of Portugal. The area is the same as that of the Algarve region. The administrative centre, or district capital, is the city of Faro. It borders Spain. Municipalities The district is composed of 1 ...

. The region, typical of the Algarve coastal areas, is dotted with many beaches, with the most important being the beaches of ''Praia do Amado'' and ''Praia da Bordeira'', which attract both local and tourist vacationers. It contains the village of Carrapateira.

History

Until 1837, the parishes of Carrapateira and Bordeira were actually separate ecclesiastical administrative divisions, of the neighbouring municipality of

Vila do Bispo Vila do Bispo () is a municipality (''concelho'') in the Portuguese Algarve. It has 5,717 inhabitants in an area of 179.06 km2. History The first references to this region referred to the ''Aldeia do Bispo'' in the 14th century, in a char ...

. When these two parishes were converted reallocated during the administrative reforms of Mouzinha de Silveira's government, they were integrated into one parish, and the parish transferred to the settlement of Bordeira which was more secular located in the interior.

Geography

The civil parish is located along the western coast of Portugal, in the southern limit of the municipality of Sabroa, bordered in the north by the civil parish of

, east by the parish of

Bensafrim Bensafrim () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Lagos, Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in contin ...

and south-east by the parish of

Barão de São João Barão is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It includes the districts Arroio Canoas, Francesa Alta, General Neto and Francesa Baixa. Barão is 80 km from Porto Alegre. The municipality is bordered by Carlos Barbosa ( ...

(both in the municipality of

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and south by the parish of

(in the municipality of the same name). It is highlighted by its small chapel, constructed after the 1755 earthquake and its following devastating tsunami (−29.8% lost their lives), heavily carved with gilded interior and

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum, it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate struct ...

. The church is dedicated to the patron, ''Nossa Senhora da Encarnação'' (''Our Lady of the Incarnation''). Bordeira is better remembered for its beachfront and sand dunes, popular with surfers who visit ''Praia da Bordeira'.

Architecture

Civic

* Museu do Mar e da terra (''Museum of the Sea and Land'')

Religious

. * Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Fátima (''Our Lady of Fatima'') was inaugurated in May 1959. * Church of Nossa Senhora da Encarnação (''Our Lady of the Incarnation''), or Matriz Church of Bordeira, was constructed following the 1755 earthquake and tsunami, in a simple style consisting of one nave, presented by a triumphal arch, high altar, with Baroque era styling, but with a Manueline-era portico that gives access to the local cemetery (which was not its original function); * Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (and Fort of Carrapateira), the 17th-century fortress and religious platform that protected the village of Carrapateira until the end of the 18th century

References

;Notes ;Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bordeira ( Aljezur ) Villages in the Algarve Freguesias of Aljezur