Colares (Sintra) Explained

Type:parish
Official Name:Colares
Region:Lisbon
Metro:Lisbon
District:Lisbon
Municipality:Sintra
Coordinates:38.803°N -9.45°W
Area Total:33.37
Population As Of:2011
Population Total:7628
Patron:Nossa Senhora da Assunção
Area Code:219
Postal Code:2705
Website:http://www.jf-colares.pt

Colares (pronounced as /pt/) is a civil parish along the coast of the municipality of Sintra. The population in 2011 was 7,628,[1] in an area of .[2]

History

Even before there was a "Portugal", the region of Colares was a place of human movement and settlement. By the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, the architecture of Colares was carved by Latin inscriptions, such as one found near the mouth of the Maçãs River: SOLI ET LUNAE CESTIVIUS ACIDIVIS PERENNIS LEG. AVG. PR. PR. PROVINCIAE LUSITANAE.

It was conquered and held by Sigurd I of Norway for a few months in 1108, during the Norwegian Crusade.

After a period of Moorish occupation, armies loyal to Afonso Henriques conquered the region, as a sequence of their victory in Sintra, around 1147. The region remained in the hands of the Crown until 1385, when it was donated by John I to the constable Nuno Álvares Pereira to compensate the mercenary for his support against Castile.

These lands returned to the crown following the death of Infanta Beatrice, mother of Manuel I.

The historical village of Colares, which was important in the nation's pre-history, obtained a foral early after its creation. The parish of Nossa Senhora da Assunção was a bishopric rectory in the old comarca of Torres Vedras, and Colares was the seat of its own municipality, attributed to King Afonso III, in May 1255. A new foral was issued on 10 November 1516 by Manuel I. In 1801, the municipality of Colares included 1930 inhabitants, and by 1849, it already had 3341 inhabitants.

During the administrative reforms of 24 October 1855, the municipality of Colares was extinguished and the territory integrated into the municipality of Sintra, as a civil parish.

Grapevines are grown directly upon the sand in the Colares DOC, which covers 50 acres of remaining vineyards.[3] In the 1940s, vineyards covered 2,500 acres.[3] Between 1934 and 1994, only the local co-op could use the Colares appellation.[3]

Red wines, which make up 75% of platings, are grown from ramisco grape and are aged over ten years before being marketed.[3] White wines, grown from a local variant of malvasia, are not aged as long.[3] Because phylloxera aphids cannot live on sand, Colares vineyards are some of the only European vines that are not grafted upon American rootstocks.[3]

Geography

The civil parish is located on the western coast of Portugal, and marked by Europe's extreme western extent: Cabo da Roca. Its contains the settlements Almoçageme, Atalaia, Azenhas do Mar, Azóia, Colares, Eugaria, Gigarós, Mucifal, Penedo, Praia das Maçãs and Ulgueira.

Climate

Architecture

Prehistoric

Archaeological

Civic

Military

Religious

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ine.pt/ngt_server/attachfileu.jsp?look_parentBoui=165404348&att_display=n&att_download=y Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)
  2. Web site: Áreas das freguesias, concelhos, distritos e país . 5 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181105172426/http://www.dgterritorio.pt/cartografia_e_geodesia/cartografia/carta_administrativa_oficial_de_portugal_caop_/caop__download_/carta_administrativa_oficial_de_portugal___versao_2017__em_vigor_/ . 5 November 2018 . dead .
  3. News: Asimov. Eric. Eric Asimov. Colares, Where the Vineyards Snake Through the Sand. 4 August 2017. The New York Times. 3 August 2017.

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