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28-597: The Alcoa ( Portuguese pronunciation: [alˈkoɐ] ) is a river of Portugal, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. It rises in the municipality of Alcobaça and flows into the ocean near Nazaré . The river section below the confluence with its tributary Baça is also referred to as Alcobaça . This article related to a river in Portugal is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Alcoba%C3%A7a, Portugal The city of Alcobaça became notable after

56-419: A Portuguese parish is about 29.83 km (11.52 sq mi) and an average population of about 3,386 people. The largest parish by area is Alcácer do Sal (Santa Maria do Castelo e Santiago) e Santa Susana, with a land area of 888.35 km (342.99 sq mi), and the smallest parish by area is São Bartolomeu (Borba), with a land area of 0.208 km (0.080 sq mi). The most populous parish

84-464: A long and sombre façade with 18th-century embellishments. This austerity is further emphasized in the cloisters with its apt name of "Cloister of Silence". In contrast within the Abbey is the massive kitchen with a running stream specially diverted to pass through as a supply of fresh water. The open area of the kitchen chimney is large enough to take a whole ox for roasting. The surround to the sacristy doorway

112-470: A neighbourhood or city district, a group of hamlets, a village, a town or an entire city. In cases where the seat is itself divided into more than one parish, each one takes the name of a landmark within its area or of the patron saint from the usually coterminous Catholic parish ( paróquia in Portuguese). Be it a city district or village, the civil parish is often based on an ecclesiastical parish. Since

140-426: A plan to reform the administrative divisions, claiming it would create efficiencies and save money. The plan envisioned the reform of the management, territorial geography and political form of how Portugal functioned at the local level, including specifically at the freguesia and concelho levels. It was determined that these changes would then be formalized before the 2013 local government elections, as part of

168-409: A process to reduce expenditures, a condition of the $ 110 billion accord. In addition to the reduction of the number of representatives in the local boards, the plan also established criteria for the reduction, amalgamation or extinction of various civil parishes. The reform was implemented according to Law 11-A/2013 of 28 January 2013, which defined the reorganization of the civil parishes. This way,

196-423: Is Algueirão - Mem Martins, with a population of 68,649 people and the least populous is Mosteiro, with a population of just nineteen people. A freguesia is a subdivision of a município (municipality), which is a cluster of freguesias , like a US county . Most often, a parish takes the name of its seat, which is usually the most important (or the single) human agglomeration within its area, which can be

224-493: Is an outstanding example of Manueline decoration. In 1794, Lord Beckford visited the Abbey and commented that he found some 300 monks "living in a very splendid manner"! A few kilometers to the north of Alcobaça is another wondrous building constructed in memory of a different important battle, that of Aljubarrota in 1385, when King John I of Portugal defeated the Castilians and ensuring two hundred years of independence from

252-490: Is the well-known fishing village of Nazaré . Today, the village is now a small town and a popular holiday resort with most of its past and traditions having rapidly evaporated in the course of time. A very successful Portuguese feature film was made in the early 20th century that dramatically captured the primitive and dangerous life of these fishermen. Stoutly Catholic, the inhabitants have retained some of their past as can be still seen in their own particular style of costume. To

280-465: The 1976 Constitution . It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Portuguese overseas territories of Cape Verde and Macau (until 2001). In the past, it was also an administrative division of the other Portuguese overseas territories. The parroquia in the Spanish autonomous communities of Galicia and Asturias is similar to a freguesia . The average land area of

308-460: The Grutas de Mira de Aire can be visited and consists of tunnels, caverns with stalactites, stalagmites, lakes, and a music and light finale. Alcobaça is twinned with: Freguesia (Portugal) Freguesia ( Portuguese pronunciation: [fɾɛɣɨˈzi.ɐ] ), usually translated as " parish " or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal , as defined by

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336-418: The municipal assembly . The parish, in contrast with the municipalities, had their base in the ecclesiastical divisions that "had its origin in the fact that neighbours professed the same religion and professed their faith and divinity in the same temple". Freguesia , the traditional Portuguese word for parish, had its beginning in the filius ecclesiae (child of the church) and filius gregis (child of

364-540: The 12th century, when it was chosen as the future site of Portugal's largest church. In March 1147, the young King Dom Afonso Henriques defeated the Moors by capturing the city of Santarém . As a tribute to his victory, he vowed to build a magnificent home for the Order of Cistercians . It took another 76 years before this task was completed. The monarchy continued to carry out further construction and 60 years later King Dinis built

392-716: The 2013 local government reforms, the 308 municipalities were subdivided into 4,259 civil parishes. In 2011, after more than two weeks of bailout negotiations in light of the sovereign debt crisis with the International Monetary Fund , the European Central Bank and the European Commission , the Portuguese government was obliged to reduce the number of municipal and parish local governments after July 2012. The government of Pedro Passos Coelho introduced

420-568: The Castilian invaders. The construction of the Abbey at Batalha commenced in 1388 and was added to by various Portuguese Kings over these next two centuries. To the east of Batalha is the world-famous location of Fátima and a point of pilgrimage for the Roman Catholic religion due to the vision of the Virgin Mary in 1917 by three young children whilst tending their flock. To the west of Alcobaça

448-412: The creation of a democratic local administration, in 1976, the Portuguese parishes have been ruled by a system composed by an executive body (the junta de freguesia , "parish board/council") and a deliberative body (the assembleia de freguesia , "parish assembly"). The members of the assembleia de freguesia are publicly elected every four years. The presidents of the parish boards are also members of

476-498: The death of his father, Pedro declared that he had married Inês in a prior secret ceremony in Bragança , and took a gruesome revenge on the killers and exhumed her body. He presented the embalmed corpse at the court with a crown on her head and demanded that all his courtiers kneel and individually pay homage to her decomposed hand. Today, their ornate tombs face each other so that on Judgment Day his first sight would be of Inês. During

504-621: The first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques , decided to build a church to commemorate the Conquest of Santarém from the Moors in 1147. The church later evolved into the Monastery of Alcobaça , one of the most magnificent Gothic monuments in the country. In the church are the tombs of Pedro I of Portugal and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro . Over the centuries this monastery played an important role in shaping Portuguese culture . A few kilometers to

532-407: The following centuries, the monks from this monastery had a major influence on the development of Portuguese culture. Notably, in 1269 they were the first to give public lessons to their congregation, and later they produced the first authoritative history on Portugal in a series of books. In 1810, the invading French pillaged the abbey, taking with them most of its most important treasures, including

560-478: The main cloister. The monastery was consecrated in 1262. The church contains the tombs of Pedro I of Portugal and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro . Pedro had married Constanza, the Infanta (princess) of Castile , but escaped with his mistress Inês and later lived in the city of Coimbra . His father, King Afonso IV , believing that the family of Inês was a threat to his kingdom, had her murdered. Shortly after

588-459: The municipalities with the same name (except for Sé, which belongs to Funchal ). Of Cape Verde 's 22 municipalities , which form the highest level of sub-national government in the small African state, some but not all are subdivided into parishes. There are 32 parishes in the country. Macau is an autonomous special administrative region in Southern China that was historically a part of

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616-421: The municipality directly. Barcelos is the municipality with the most civil parishes (61, since 2013). Portugal has no unincorporated areas ; all the national territory (apart from the above-mentioned example of Corvo) belongs to a civil parish, including uninhabited islands: Selvagens Islands to Sé , and Berlengas to Peniche , Desertas Islands to Santa Cruz , and Formigas Islets to Vila do Porto , in

644-424: The north of Alcobaça is the Monastery of Batalha , another Gothic building constructed in memory of a different important battle, that of Aljubarrota . To the west of Alcobaça is the fishing village of Nazaré , now a popular resort town. To the south is the city of Caldas da Rainha and the medieval town of Óbidos . To the northeast is the town of Porto de Mós with its rebuilt castle. Alcobaça became notable in

672-427: The noteworthy library. The items that remained were later stolen in 1834 during an anti-clerical riot and the banning of religious orders in Portugal. Alcobaça has a Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb ) with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Administratively, the municipality is divided into 13 civil parishes ( freguesias ): The main feature of the city is essentially the monastery that proudly presents

700-449: The number of parishes was reduced from 4,259 to 3,091. Municipalities in Portugal are usually divided into multiple freguesias , but seven municipalities are not: Alpiarça , Barrancos , Castanheira de Pera , Porto Santo , São Brás de Alportel and São João da Madeira all consist of a single civil parish, and Corvo is a special case of a municipality without civil parishes, where all usual parish duties and functions are performed by

728-402: The power of the clergy built these areas, accumulating immense wealth and power. The liberal government of Mouzinho da Silveira abolished the parishes in 1832, but the government of Manuel da Silva Passos restored them in 1836. The freguesia began to refer to the civil/administrative entity, while the paróquia ( Latin : parochia ) became affiliated with the religious entity. Before

756-403: The shepherds's flock), the collectivity of the religious faithful, with similar aspirations and interests. Between 1216 and 1223, Afonso II of Portugal began a process of legitimizing the Portuguese territory by conferring charters to nobles, clergy and municipal chambers (which would not be completed until after 1249, under Afonso III of Portugal ), making the parish the smallest division. But,

784-503: The south is Caldas da Rainha and the quaint medieval town of Óbidos that is an attraction for any tourists that enjoys a true glimpse of the past. Also to the south is the town of Porto de Mós with its fanciful rebuilt castle. This town borders the Nature Reserve Parque Natural das Serras de Aire e Candeeiros . These 390 square kilometres of limestone-covered landscape is also known for its caverns. The best known being

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