Favaios () is a civil parish of the municipality of

Alijó Alijó () is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal, located in the district of Vila Real. The population in 2021 was 10,486, in an area of 297.60 km2. History There are several megalithic structures, dolmens and castros in Alij� ...

, in northern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. The population in 2011 was 1,064,Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)
Census 2011 results according to the 2013 administrative division of Portugal in an area of 21.45 km². The region is known for its

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

s, namely, the

moscatel Muscatel ( ) is a type of wine made from muscat grapes. The term is now normally used in the United States to refer to a fortified wine made from these grapes rather than just any wine made from these grapes. This fortified muscatel became popu ...

s like ''Moscatel de Favaios''.

History

Favaios was occupied by Roman legions between 218 BCE and 201 BCE, who took it from the tribes of Lusitanians and Hispanic clans. The founders came from the families and relations of the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known ...

, of

Imperial Rome The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, who rose to prominence after Emperor Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus. The parish's name is derived from ''Flávios'', a corruption of the original name of this leader, ''Flavius'' . Roman Flávios belonged to a vast territory known as Panoias (not to be confused with modern-day Panoias which is a small community in the municipality of Braga). Ancient Panoias extended from the river Marão to the Tua River, and from the

Douro River The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

to the current site of Murça. The invasion of the Iberian peninsula by Arabs reached the north, where the Moors took the Roman ''Castle of Flávias'': it would later be remembered as the ''"Castelo dos Mouros”'' ( en, Castle of Moors). This occupation forced the locals to escape the region and re-established settlements away from Favaios: half the population took refuge in the area that would be renamed São Bento. From this new colony the Portuguese battled the Moors of Favaios; after the expulsion of the Moors the region was covered in the destruction of these battles. The destruction lead to a slow reconstruction of Favaios. Favaios received in 1211 its ''Carta de Alforria'' (''Charter of liberty/freedom'') from King Afonso II, and its foral (''charter'') in 1270 by Afonso III (which was later confirmed in 1284 by King

Denis Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary * Denis the Carthusian (1402–14 ...

). Strangely, during the reign of Manuel I the charter was revoked in 1514, to be reinstituted the following year, ordering that the local fountain be marked with the Royal shield over an

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines ...

, surmounted by a crown.

Geography

With an area of 21.45 km², Favaios is located along a plateau in the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro province, district headed by Vila Real de Trás-os-Montes city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Favaios (Alijo) Freguesias of Alijó