Alcochete on Tejo river

2 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Old part of the city © Joaquim Alves Gaspar/cc-by-sa-3.0

Old part of the city © Joaquim Alves Gaspar/cc-by-sa-3.0

Alcochete is a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 17,569, in an area of 128.36 km². The municipality is composed of three parishes and is located in Setúbal District.   read more…

Cape Saint Vincent, the southwestern tip of the European mainland

19 February 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

'Last Bratwurst on your way to America' © CTHOE

‘Last Bratwurst on your way to America’ © CTHOE

Cape St. Vincent (Portuguese: Cabo de São Vicente), next to the Sagres Point, on the so-called Costa Vicentina (Vincentine Coast), is a headland in the municipality of Sagres, in the Algarve.   read more…

European Capital of Culture 2012: Guimarães and Maribor

15 February 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

© guimaraes2012.pt

© guimaraes2012.pt


GUIMARÃES

Guimarães is a northern Portuguese city located in the district of Braga, in the Ave Subregion, with a population of 52 181 inhabitants, distributed throughout 20 parishes (freguesias in Portuguese), in an urban area of 23,5 km² with a population density of 2 223,9/km².   read more…

Theme Week Algarve – Lagos

11 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Aerial view © Lacobrigo

Aerial view © Lacobrigo

Lagos is a municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal. The main town of Lagos has a population of approximately 22,000 residents, while the municipality supports a resident population of 31,048 inhabitants. Typically, these numbers increase during the summer months, with the influx of visiting tourists and seasonal residents. While the majority of the population lives along the coast and works in tourism and services, the inland region is sparsely inhabited, with the majority of the people working in agriculture and forestry.   read more…

Portimão on the Algarve

12 August 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Praia da Rocha © flickr.com - Jose A./cc-by-2.0

Praia da Rocha © flickr.com – Jose A./cc-by-2.0

Portimão located in the District of Faro in the Algarve region on the southern coast of Portugal. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In 1924, it was incorporated as a cidade and became known merely as Portimão. The town has 56,000 inhabitants and the Portimão Municipality has 50,000. The two most populous towns in the Algarve are Portimão and Faro.   read more…

Santa Justa Lift in Lisboa

21 August 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© flickr.com - islandjoe/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – islandjoe/cc-by-2.0

The Santa Justa Lift (Portuguese: Elevador de Santa Justa, also called Carmo Lift (Portuguese: Elevador do Carmo, is an elevator/lift in civil parish of Santa Justa, in the historical city of Lisbon, situated at the end of Rua de Santa Justa. It connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square.) Since its construction, the Lift has become a tourist attraction for Lisbon as, among the urban lifts in the city, Santa Justa is the only remaining vertical one. Others, including Elevador da Glória and Elevador da Lavra, are funiculars, and the other Lift constructed around the period, the Elevator of São Julião has since been demolished.   read more…

Nazaré on the Atlantic coast

2 May 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Joaomartinho63/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Joaomartinho63/cc-by-sa-3.0

Nazaré is a town in Nazaré Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 82.4 km² and a total population of 15,158 inhabitants. It is in the Oeste subregion. The town consists of three sections: Praia (along the beach), Sítio (an old village, on top of a cliff) and Pederneira (another old village, on a hilltop). The Praia and the Sítio areas are linked by the Nazaré Funicular, a funicular railway. The first church in O Sítio, was built over the grotto to commemorate a miraculous intervention (1182) by the Virgin Mary in saving the life of the 12th century Portuguese knight Dom Fuas Roupinho, possibly a templar, while he was hunting deer one foggy early morning. This episode is usually referred to as the Legend of Nazaré. In memory of the miracle he had a chapel (Capela da Memória) built over the small grotto, where the miraculous statue had been left by King Roderic after the monk’s death. Beside the chapel, on a protuberant rock 110 meters above the Atlantic, one can still see the mark made in the rock by one of the hooves of Dom Fuas’ horse.   read more…

The Way of St. James

22 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Editorial, EU blog post series, European Union, Bon voyage, Museums, Exhibitions, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

Ways of St. James in Western Europe © Manfred Zentgraf/CC-BY-SA

Ways of St. James in Western Europe © Manfred Zentgraf/CC-BY-SA

The Way of St. James or St. James’ Way (Spanish: El Camino de Santiago) is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried. The Way of St. James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned; other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.   read more…

Theme Week Algarve – Faro

21 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

City Hall © Osvaldo Gago - fotografar.net - cc-by-sa-2.0

City Hall © Osvaldo Gago – fotografar.net – cc-by-sa-2.0

Faro is the southernmost city in Continental Portugal. It is located in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital of the Algarve region. The Algarve and Faro district cover the same territory.   read more…

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