Alvor (Portimão)

Alvor

Parish

Along the Alvor River

Coat of arms

Alvor

Coordinates: 37°07′48″N 8°35′38″W / 37.130°N 8.594°WCoordinates: 37°07′48″N 8°35′38″W / 37.130°N 8.594°W

Country

Area

• Total

15.25 km² (5.89 sq mi)

Elevation

24 m (79 ft)

Population (2011)

• Total

6,154

• Density

400/km² (1,000/sq mi)

Postal code

8500

Patron

São Salvador

Website

http://www.jf-alvor.pt

Alvor is a civil parish (Portuguese: freguesia) in the municipality of Portimão, in the southern Algarve of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 6,154, in an area of 15.25 km².

Alvor was founded in 436 by the Carthaginian General Aníbal Barca as a commercial port, which he named Portus Hannibalis. The settlement grew around the sea, near the place called Vila Velha, where a Celtic castro dominated the river mouth during the Iron Age. It is likely that it was the Roman colony of Ipses, which was authorized to mint currency, and was absorbed during the Roman era.

Taken by the Moors in 716, the settlement began to be referred to as Albur, and gained an impressive castle, with only vestiges remaining.

This bastion was conquered on 3 June 1189, by the forces of King Sancho I of Portugal, with help from Crusader forces. It was retaken two years, and definitively reconquered in 1250. Rebuilt by King Denis in 1300, it served for 500 years the coastal defences against attacks by pirates and privateers until it was destroyed in 1755 by the tsunami and earthquake that devastated Lisbon.

By royal decree of Afonso V, dated 22 May 1469, it was raised to the status of Countship, under the seigneurial title bestowed to Afonso, Count of Faro. But, this title did not extend beyond this period, as the Count of Faro was implicated in a conspiracy against John II of Portugal (in 1483-84), and it reverted to the Crown.

During the reign of John II, Alvor continued to receive patronage, the king dying on 25 October 1495 in the palace of Álvaro de Ataíde after catching a chill in Monchique (the residence, which was situated on Rua do Poço, was located near the supposed hydrothermal springs of Caldas de Monchique).

The Prince Regent ordered, in the name of Manuel of Portugal, the elevation of Alvor to vila (town) on 28 February 1495, which was confirmed in a secondary diploma on 28 December 1498.

...
Wikipedia