Gouveia Municipality, Portugal
| Gouveia | |||
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| Municipality | |||
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| Coordinates: 40°30′N 7°36′W / 40.500°N 7.600°WCoordinates: 40°30′N 7°36′W / 40.500°N 7.600°W | |||
| Country |
 Portugal
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| Region | Centro | ||
| Subregion | Serra da Estrela | ||
| Intermunic. comm. | Beiras e Serra da Estrela | ||
| District | Guarda | ||
| Parishes | 16 | ||
| Government | |||
| • President | Luis Tadeu (PSD) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 300.61 km2 (116.07 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2011) | |||
| • Total | 14,046 | ||
| • Density | 47/km2 (120/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | WET/WEST (UTC+0/+1) | ||
| Website | http://www.cm-gouveia.pt | ||
Gouveia (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡowˈvɐjɐ]) is a city and a municipality in the District of Guarda in Portugal. The municipality population in 2011 was 14,046, in an area of 300.61 km². The city itself had a population of 3,759 in 2001.
The present mayor is Luis Marques Tadeu, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is the Monday after the 2nd Sunday of August.
The establishment of Gouveia is often attributed to the year 580 BC, but the oldest material proof of human occupation is funerary pottery dating to the Bronze Age that was found in a castle square in 1940. In the parish of Rio Torto, the oldest evidence of human occupation is a dolmen (a stone funerary structure) dating back to the fourth millennium BC.
The Roman occupation was also a part of the city's history. A consecration inscription to the Lusitanian god Salqiu was found in a chapel on the city centre, as well as the grave of a Roman warrior with iron artefacts related to war (axe, knife, and an arrow head). In the Folgosinho, Nespereira, and V.N. Tázem parishes, there are Roman roads that can still be walked.
For the Germanic and Muslim periods, nothing is known except that in 1038 Ferdinand I from the Kingdom of Castile conquered it to the Muslims. In 1277 a battle during a civil war took place here.
During the Medieval period, the city developed, with shepherding, agriculture, and wool production as the biggest areas of economic development. The Jewish community played an important role in this development, especially in the handcrafts using wool, but also with trade. A Hebrew inscription was found in the late 1960s in one of the old Jewish quarters that certifies the last synagogue to be built in Portugal before the mandatory conversion and expulsion of the Jewish community of Portugal in the year of 1496, which is also the year recorded in the inscription. The inscription can be seen in the museum Espaço Arte e Memória.
During the modern period, the wool industry grew until the 20th century, since which time it has diminished. Gouveia in 1870 had 20 looms out of a national total of 57, and it was the sixth biggest textile urban centre. In 1873, there were 23 factories, employing almost 2000 people.
During the peninsular wars, Gouveia's castle was destroyed, but the medieval quarter survived, with its Jewish neighborhood of Biqueira, the S. Julian church, and urban characteristics. The main architectural structures are in the city centre, and they go back to the 18th century, especially the St. Peter's church, a small cathedral, the library and the museum building, the city hall, an 18th-century Jesuit college, and several churches and chapels. The biggest icon is a 16th-century building called casa da torre, which has a "pelourinho" in front from the same period as the building itself to commemorate the autonomy attained by Gouveia from King Manuel I.
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