Lourinhã | |
|---|---|
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
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| Coordinates:39°14′N9°18′W / 39.233°N 9.300°W /39.233; -9.300 | |
| Country |  Portugal |
| Region | Oeste e Vale do Tejo |
| Intermunic. comm. | Oeste |
| District | Lisbon |
| Parishes | 8 |
| Government | |
| • President | João Duarte (PS) |
| Area | |
• Total | 147.17 km2 (56.82 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 25,735 |
| • Density | 174.87/km2 (452.90/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+00:00 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+01:00 (WEST) |
| Local holiday | Saint John June 24 |
| Website | www |
Lourinhã (locally[loɾiˈɲɐ̃]ⓘ) is a municipality in the District ofLisbon and in theportugueseOeste region. The population in 2011 was 25,735,[1] in an area of 147.17 km2.[2] The seat of the municipality is the town of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhabitants.
The present Mayor is João Duarte, elected by theSocialist Party.
The name Lourinhã possibly originated in the period ofRoman domination, when avilla was located in the area. The origin of the medieval village is linked toJordan, a French knight who took part in the successfulSiege of Lisbon in 1147.King Afonso Henriques granted Jordan the region of Lourinhã asfief and allowed him to grant aforal (letter of feudal rights) to its settlers in 1160. The name Lourinhã may be related to the origin of its feudal lord, since Jordan was from theLoire region inFrance.
The rights of Lourinhã were confirmed by letters ofKing Sancho I in 1218 and again byAfonso III in 1258. The parish of Lourinhã became one of the richest of theLisbonDiocese, as reflected by its main church, a fine example of 14th-century PortugueseGothic architecture. The Gothic works of the main church were sponsored by Lourenço Vicente, a Lourinhã-bornArchbishop of Braga who received the village as a donation ofKing John I in 1384.
In the 16th century, theFranciscan monastery of Santo António (1598) and a Misericórdia Church and Charity (1586) were founded in Lourinhã. The Misericórdia (Mercy), a religious charity, now houses a museum with outstandingRenaissance paintings. The most important paintings are by the hand of a mysterious early 16th-century painter, dubbed theMaster of Lourinhã (Mestre da Lourinhã).
Starting at the end of the 19th century, the infrastructure of the municipality was modernised with roads, canalised water and electric light, as well as improvements in the educational system. The economy depended mostly on agriculture and fishing. Tourism is an increasingly important source of revenue, due to the municipality's extensive, picturesque beaches and, more recently, by the paleontological remains from the eponymousLourinhã Formation, which include fossilised bones, footprints, eggs and even embryos fromJurassicdinosaurs. Many of which can be seen nowadays at the local museum,Museu da Lourinhã.
Lourinhã, is one of the fewbrandy-making areas, besidesCognac, Armagnac and Jerez, that have received appellation status.
Administratively, the municipality is divided into 8 civil parishes (freguesias):[3]
Lourinhã has aMediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Temperatures are never too hot nor too cold.
| Climate data for Vimeiro, Lourinhã, 1964-1990, altitude: 10 m (33 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 15.2 (59.4) | 15.6 (60.1) | 16.7 (62.1) | 17.6 (63.7) | 19.0 (66.2) | 21.7 (71.1) | 23.2 (73.8) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.8 (74.8) | 21.5 (70.7) | 18.1 (64.6) | 15.7 (60.3) | 19.3 (66.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 10.5 (50.9) | 11.4 (52.5) | 12.3 (54.1) | 13.5 (56.3) | 15.2 (59.4) | 17.6 (63.7) | 19.2 (66.6) | 19.5 (67.1) | 18.8 (65.8) | 16.6 (61.9) | 13.2 (55.8) | 11.0 (51.8) | 14.9 (58.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.8 (42.4) | 7.2 (45.0) | 7.8 (46.0) | 9.4 (48.9) | 11.3 (52.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 15.2 (59.4) | 15.2 (59.4) | 13.8 (56.8) | 12.4 (54.3) | 8.3 (46.9) | 6.3 (43.3) | 10.5 (50.9) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 90.0 (3.54) | 67.1 (2.64) | 49.3 (1.94) | 64.3 (2.53) | 48.3 (1.90) | 17.5 (0.69) | 6.3 (0.25) | 8.0 (0.31) | 28.7 (1.13) | 91.6 (3.61) | 104.3 (4.11) | 95.2 (3.75) | 670.6 (26.4) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 84 | 80 | 76 | 76 | 77 | 77 | 77 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 82 | 84 | 80 |
| Source 1:Instituto de Meteorologia[4] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Portuguese Environment Agency (precipitation 1984-2020)[5] | |||||||||||||
| Population of Lourinhã municipality (1801 – 2011) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 1849 | 1900 | 1930 | 1960 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
| 3366 | 6481 | 12154 | 17049 | 22927 | 21245 | 21596 | 23265 | 25735 |
Lourinhã has 12 km of coastline with several popular beaches.
The area of Lourinhã is known by the Late Jurassic findings of dinosaurs and other fossils, and give the name forLourinhã Formation. TheMuseu da Lourinhã holds the main dinosaur collection.
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