Macedo de Cavaleiros

Municipality

The reservoir formed by the Azibo Dam, in the Paisagem Protegida da Albufeira do Azibo

Flag

Coat of arms

Coordinates: 41°32′20″N 6°57′39″W / 41.53889°N 6.96083°WCoordinates: 41°32′20″N 6°57′39″W / 41.53889°N 6.96083°W

Country

Portugal

Terras de Trás-os-Montes

Government

• President

Beraldino José Vilarinho Pinto (PPD-PSD)

Area

• Total

699.14 km² (269.94 sq mi)

Elevation

614 m (2,014 ft)

Population (2011)

• Total

15,776

• Density

23/km² (58/sq mi)

Time zone

WET/WEST (UTC+0/+1)

Postal code

5340

Area code

278

Patron

São Pedro

Website

http://www.cm-macedodecavaleiros.pt/

Macedo de Cavaleiros (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐˈseðu ðɨ kɐvɐˈlɐjɾuʃ]) is a municipality in northeastern Portugal, in Bragança District. The population in 2011 was 15,776, in an area of 699.14 km².

During antiquity, the region was occupied by the Celts, then Romans and finally the Arab forces of the Umayyad Caliphate, who dominated the region until the Christian Reconquista. The Romans defeated the local hill tribes, and reorganized settlements in the region, influencing local culture and social administration. The territory east of the Tua River, from Mirandela until the confluence of the Douro (which almost represents the district of Bragança) was Romanized, as was all of Iberia. In the 5th century, when the first barbarians invaded from the Pyrenees, this region, which was part of the Roman province of Gallaecia, which was administered and judicially subordinate to the religious courts and chancellery of Asturias. The Roman process of assimilation accelerated after resistance was defeated, and many of the ancient castros were destroyed or abandoned in favour of the organized settlements in the valleys. The barbarian invasions marked a multi-secular conflict in Iberia, and the land changed hands between rival groups regularly. The Suebi peoples, who came with the first invaders, founded their kingdom in the northwest part of the peninsula (from their capital in Braga), incorporating the lands of Bragança. Later the Visigoths and Arabs invaded, creating an uninhabited desert of the region, while concentrating their administration in the province of Zamora.

The name Macedo de Cavaleiros came from a combination of concepts. The first from the Portuguese term for apple (Portuguese: maçã), since the region was acclaimed for its fertile lands and apple orchards (Portuguese: macedos). It was also associated with the knight (Portuguese: cavaleiro), Martim Gonçalves de Macedo, who saved John, the Master of Aviz during the Battle of Aljubarrota. During the battle on 14 August 1385, John was attacked by Álvaro Gonçalves de Sandoval, the Castilian striking down the nobleman. Macedo interceded in the conflict, killing the assassin and saving the future King. King John recognized and was grateful to the knight, whose family coat-of-arms after the Battle began to appear with a blue sash and a silver apple.

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Wikipedia