Póvoa de Santa Iria is a city and former ''

freguesia (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Portuguese over ...

'' in the municipality of

Vila Franca de Xira Vila Franca de Xira (), officially the City of Vila Franca de Xira (), is a city and municipality in the Lisbon District in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 137,659, in an area of 318.19 km2. Situated on both banks of the Tagus River, ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Since 2013, it is part of the ''freguesia'' Póvoa de Santa Iria e Forte da Casa. Its population in 2011 was 29,348.

History

Prehistory and Roman period

There is evidence of human settlement during the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

in the land where present-day Póvoa de Santa Iria is located. Stone tools dating from this period have been found in some upper areas of the city. There is also evidence of Roman occupation in the area, particularly through isolated finds such as

amphoras An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...

near the

Tagus River The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

. A significant Roman

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

, reused in later times, was discovered near the current EN115-5 road, about 400 meters southwest of the settlement. The area's proximity to Olisipo (currently

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

) and its strategic location along the Tagus River likely led to a substantial Roman presence, with the region possibly serving as a rural settlement focused on agriculture.

Middle Ages and early Modern Era

In 1336, the land was designated part of the Póvoa

Majorat ''Majorat'' () is a French term for an arrangement giving the right of succession to a specific parcel of property associated with a title of nobility to a single heir, based on male primogeniture. A majorat ( fideicommis) would be inherited by ...

(Portuguese: ''Morgado da Póvoa'') by Vicente Afonso Valente, for the benefit of his brother Lourenço Afonso Valente. The majorat was centered around the Quinta da Piedade, a '' quinta'' with a view over the Tagus River. In the 16th century, D. Martinho Vaz de Castelo Branco became the seventh lord of the Póvoa Majorat and owner of the Quinta da Piedade, after which the settlement came to be known as Póvoa de D. Martinho. This name persisted for three centuries. In 1856, the Póvoa train station was inaugurated, linking the area to the center of Lisbon. It was part of Portugal's first railway line, which ran between Lisbon and Carregado. After the extinction of the majorats in Portugal in 1863, the settlement obtained its current name, Póvoa de Santa Iria. The settlement had a strong connection with the

Tagus river The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

and its population had fishing, salt extraction and river transport as their main activities. 1867 marked the start of the industrial activity in Póvoa de Santa Iria with the opening of the Póvoa Factory, which produced chemical products.

20th and 21st centuries

In 1916 the ''

'' (civil parish) of Póvoa de Santa Iria was created, as part of the

Loures Loures () is a city and a municipality in Portugal which is part of the Lisbon District, District and Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Metropolitan area of Lisbon. It is the fifth most populous municipality in the country, with a total population of 201, ...

municipality. In 1926, the civil parish was detached from the Loures municipality and integrated in the

municipality. In the second half of the 20th century, a sharp population increase occurred in Póvoa de Santa Iria and the settlement was mainly converted into a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

. Following its expansion, Póvoa de Santa Iria was formally designated a ''vila'' (town) in 1985 and a ''cidade'' (city) in 1999. After a major territorial administration reorganization in Portugal in 2013, the civil parish of Póvoa de Santa Iria was merged with the neighboring civil parish of Forte da Casa. In November 2014, Póvoa de Santa Iria was one of the locations most affected by a legionellosis outbreak in the Vila Franca de Xira municipality.

Transportation

Póvoa de Santa Iria is served by the Póvoa train station, which is part of the North Line and an important point of connection with the city of

. This station was the site of a tragic train accident on 5 May 1986, which claimed the lives of 17 people, making it one of the deadliest train disasters in Portugal's history. The city is also served by multiple bus lines from Carris Metropolitana, connecting with other points in the municipalities of

and Lisbon.

Sports

Póvoa de Santa Iria's football club is União Atlético Povoense, which competes in the Second Division of the

Lisbon Football Association The Lisbon Football Association (''Associação de Futebol de Lisboa''; AF Lisboa) is the district governing body for the all football competitions in the Portuguese district of Lisbon. It is also the regulator of the clubs registered in the di ...

.{{Cite web, title=At. Povoense - Playmakerstats, url=https://www.playmakerstats.com/equipa.php?id=3881, access-date=17 October 2021, website=Playmakerstats

Notable People

* Hugo Ventosa (born 1989) - footballer. * The Lucky Duckies (founded 1987) - famous revival band of vintage swing and rock'n'roll style lead by their vocalist Marco Antonio.

References

External links

Junta de Freguesia Póvoa de Santa Iria e Forte da Casa
(in Portuguese) Cities in Portugal Former parishes of Vila Franca de Xira