Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and a

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' ...

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 ...

. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the

Lisbon metropolitan area The Lisbon Metropolitan Area (; abbreviated as AML) is a metropolitan areas in Portugal, metropolitan area in Portugal centered on Lisbon, the capital and largest city of the country. The metropolitan area, covering 17 List of cities in Portuga ...

, about from Lisbon downtown by road. In the times of

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

, the city was known as ''Shaṭūbar'' ( Andalusian Arabic: ), after the old pre-Roman name of ''Caetobriga''. In the 19th century, the port was called ''Saint Ubes'' in English, and ''Saint-Yves'' in French. The municipal holiday is 15 September, which marks the date in 1860 when King Pedro V of Portugal officially recognised Setúbal as a city.

City information

The city of Setúbal is located on the northern bank of the Sado River

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

, approximately south of Portugal's capital,

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 ...

. It is also the seat of the

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Évora District on the eas ...

and formerly in the historic Estremadura Province. In the beginning of the 20th century, Setúbal was the most important center of Portugal's fishing industry, particularly specializing in processing and exporting

sardine Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring suborder Clupeoidei. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious etymology says it com ...

s. None of the many factories then created are operating today. However, the existing maritime ports, either traditional, commercial and the new marines, keep the city's links to the ocean and water well alive and vibrant. Tourism, based on the beautiful natural conditions plus excellent hotels, resorts and infrastructures, is one of the city's most appreciated resources, due to its interconnection with the Sado (river) on one side and Atlantic Ocean on another, having a coast line with both. The city is also connected with the nearby coast of the Arrábida hills natural park - which offers an unspoiled nature and beautiful beaches to the Atlantic Ocean. A

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

colony inhabits the Sado River. Across the river on the south bank lies the peninsula of Tróia, a place with vast white/golden sand beaches where several luxury hotels and resorts were recently built. The Tróia peninsula can be sighted from the city, across the river. Albarquel, Figueirinha, Galápos, Galapinhos, Creiro and Portinho da Arrábida are some of the city's many beaches, located in the north bank of the estuary, at the very beginning of the Arrábida hills.

History

In antiquity the city was known as Cetobriga, a

Turdetani The Turdetani were an ancient pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula, pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula, living in the valley of the Guadalquivir (the river that the Turdetani called by two names: ''Kertis'' and ''Rérkēs'' (Ῥέ� ...

settlement that came under Roman control in the province of

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

Culture

The main historical monument of the city of Setúbal is the Monastery of Jesus, which is a 15th- and 16th-century church that represents one of the first buildings in the Portuguese late Gothic style known as

Manueline The Manueline (, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manueline architecture inco ...

. It was in this building where the first treaty that divided the world between two powers was signed by King John II, nicknamed the perfect prince. The

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

has a diocese, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Setúbal, headquartered in the city, with its see (seat of the bishop) at the Our Lady of Grace Cathedral, Setúbal, famous for its

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

façade. Also of interest are the São Julião Church, also with Manueline portals. The '' Castelo de São Filipe'', is a 16th- and 17th-century fortress on the north bank of the Sado river, overseeing the city. The fortress was converted into a luxury hotel ('' pousada''). The fortress ordered to be built by King Sebastian is wrongly attributed to King Philip I. Filippo Terzi had been hired in 1575 by Sebastian precisely to protect and reinforce the Portuguese coast against piracy that was ravaging the entire Mediterranean and Atlantic. Teatro Animação de Setúbal is based in Setúbal.

Demography (municipality)

Civil Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into five civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Azeitão (São Lourenço e São Simão) * Gâmbia – Pontes – Alto da Guerra * * São Julião, Nossa Senhora da Anunciada e Santa Maria da Graça * São Sebastião

Climate

Setúbal 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 mild, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers. Temperatures in the winter vary between during the day and at night, most of the precipitation (starting from November) falls in this season. Temperatures in the summer vary between during the day and at night, precipitation is scarce during this season. The average annual temperature varies between . On 4 August 2018, Setúbal registered a record high temperature of which, according to weather records expert Maximiliano Herrera, was the highest temperature ever recorded on the coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Economy

According to the census of 2011, the municipality of Setúbal had a

labor force In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed): \text = \text + \text Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are out ...

of 58,514 people, among whom 15.6% were unemployed. Among those who had a job, 1.6% were working in the Primary sector, 24.9% in the Secondary sector and 73.5% in the Tertiary sector. Setúbal is notable for the industries of pulp,

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

fertilizers A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrition, plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from Liming (soil), liming materials or other non- ...

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are used to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for a ...

, other phytopharmaceutical products, thermal power,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

and ship repair there was a lot of automobile assembling industry since the 1950s with several known manufacturers had or have opened assembly halls for the Portuguese market. Today there are only 3 tradenames nearby currently in production. The Port of Setúbal had a cargo throughput of 6.058 million tons in 2012, making it the 4th busiest port in Portugal, with 7.4% of the cargo throughput in the country. In the 19th century, the area was notable for the production of sea salt. St. Ubes bay salt was exported as far as Australia in the 1830s.

Education

* Escola Superior de Ciências Empresariais

Transportation

Setúbal has one train station, Setúbal station, with CP suburban trains every half an hour to Barreiro or Praias Sado - A, and Fertagus suburban service to Lisbon Roma-Areeiro. There are also two halts with CP service, Praça do Quebedo and Praias Sado - A, which exceptionally aren't served by the last trains of the night. There are also two stations used for the transport of goods, Setúbal-Mar and Praias do Sado, the latter having its passenger service suspended in 2009 In the past, in the municipality, there were also the halts of Cachofarra, Mouriscas-Sado and Algeruz, serving the villages with the same name. These halts were used by regional trains going to Faro or Beja Bus services have been secured since June 1st 2022 by Alsa Todi under Carris Metropolitana. Setúbal is part of the 4th area and the 4th sub-area, meaning it's urban busses begin in 44. The main bus terminal is the ITS (Interface de Transportes de Setúbal), located next to the Setúbal railway station, substituting the old terminal at Av. Dr. Manuel de Arriaga. FlixBus, Rede Nacional de Expressos and BlaBlaCar Bus, the latter still stopping at the old terminal In terms of road infrastructure, Setúbal is served by highway A12, to Lisbon and national roads N10, N10-4 and N10-8

Sports

The city's main sports club is Vitória de Setúbal, the football club established on 20 November 1910.

Notable residents and citizens

Public Service

* Diogo Fernandes Pereira (ca.15C-ca.16C) a 16th-century navigator; in 1503 the first European captain to visit the island of

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

and discovered the Mascarenes archipelago (

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, and Rodrigues) in 1507 * José Travassos Valdez, 1st Count of Bonfim (1787–1862) soldier, politician,

Prime Minister of Portugal The prime minister of Portugal (; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to Ass ...

, 1839 to 1841 * Rui Machete (born 1940) a Portuguese politician and Govt. minister * Bruno Guerreiro (born 1995) a plastic Faceit player named mista (without cheese because I don't like ham), famous for his 360 no scopes walls. Legends says he still try harding to get his first ever kill on Counter-Strike 2.

Religion

*Dom Américo Aguiar is a Cardinal-elector of the

, and bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Setúbal, who is resident at the Our Lady of Grace Cathedral, Setúbal

The Arts

* Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage (1765–1805) notable satirical and classical poet. *

Luisa Todi Luisa (Italian language, Italian and Spanish language, Spanish), Luísa (Portuguese language, Portuguese), or Louise (given name), Louise (French language, French) is a feminine given name; it is the feminine form of the given name Louis (given nam ...

(1753–1833) a Portuguese mezzo-soprano opera singer * João Vaz (1859-1931) a painter and decorator who specialized in maritime subjects. * Roy Campbell (1901–1957) a South African poet, died nearby in a car accident. * Sebastião da Gama (1924–1952) a Portuguese poet, he wrote about the Arrábida Natural Park * Lima de Freitas (1927–1998) Portuguese painter, illustrator, ceramicist and writer. * Zeca Afonso (1929-1987) singer and songwriter, lived, worked and died in the city * Manuela Couto (born 1964) a Portuguese actress on TV, cinema and theatre. * Luís Buchinho (born 1969) a Portuguese fashion designer. * Roman Konoplev (born 1973) a Russian and

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

n writer and publicist. * Mazgani (born 1974) an Iranian-Portuguese singer-songwriter. * Sofia Vitória (born 1979) singer of Jazz &

World Music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

* Sabrina (born 1982) represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. * Cátia Mazari Oliveira (born 1983) better known by her artistic name A Garota Não, a Portuguese singer-songwriter. * André Marques (born 1984) writer and director. André Marques, IMDb Database
retrieved 28 June 2021. * Filipa Barroso, (Wiki PT) (born 1998) model and Miss Portuguesa 2017 * Matilde Lima, (Wiki PT) (born 1999) model and Miss Universo Portugal 2017

Sport

* Francisco Santos (footballer) (1904 - ?) * Oceana Zarco (1911–2008) first Portuguese female professional cyclist, in 1925 * Jaime Graça (1942–2012) a footballer and coach with 303 club caps and 36 for

* Silvino Louro (born 1959) a former footballer with 408 club caps and 23 for

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

(born 1963) distinguished football manager. * Fernando Mendes (born 1966) a former footballer with 350 club caps and 11 for

* Bruno Ribeiro (born 1975) a football manager and former player with 305 club caps * Bruno Lage (born 1976) a football manager, head coach of Benfica *

Susana Costa Susana Cristina Saíde da Costa (born 22 September 1984) is a Portuguese athlete specialising in the triple jump. She finished eighth at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, 2014 European Championships in Zürich. In addition, she won the go ...

(born 1984) a Portuguese athlete specialising in the triple jump * Marco Soares (born 1984) a footballer with over 370 club caps and 49 for

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

* José Semedo (born 1985) a former footballer with 466 club caps and 11 for Portugal U-21

International relations

Setúbal is twinned with: Setúbal has international cooperation protocols with:

Gallery

File:Castillo de San Felipe, Setúbal, Portugal, 2020-07-19, DD 02.jpg, 16th-century Fort of St. Filipe. File:Iglesia de San Julián, Setúbal, Portugal, 2021-09-09, DD 59-61 HDR.jpg, São Julião Church in central Setúbal. File:Convento de Jesús, Setúbal, Portugal, 2021-09-08, DD 18.jpg, Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal (15th and 16th centuries). File:Jesus Convent 5.JPG, ''Cruzeiro'' (a Stone cross) and façade of the Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal. File:Iglesia del convento de Jesús, Setúbal, Portugal, 2021-09-08, DD 19.jpg, Main entrance to the Gothic-Manueline Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal. File:Porto de Setubal I.jpg, A view of Setúbal's seaport. File:Jardim Bonfim Setubal 2.JPG, Jardim Bonfim park. File:Setubal 20070727.jpg, Largo da Misericórdia. File:Manesson-Travaux-de-Mars 9685.tif, Fortifications of Setúbal. Manesson Mallet: ''Travaux de Mars ou l'Art de la Guerre''.

References

Bibliography

External links

Municipality official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Setubal Cities in Portugal Port cities and towns in Portugal Phoenician colonies in Portugal Populated places in Setúbal District Municipalities of Setúbal District