Peso da Régua | |
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 Flag  Coat of arms | |
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| Coordinates:41°9′55″N7°46′35″W / 41.16528°N 7.77639°W /41.16528; -7.77639 | |
| Country |  Portugal |
| Region | Norte |
| Intermunic. comm. | Douro |
| District | Vila Real |
| Parishes | 8 |
| Government | |
| • President | José Manuel Gonçalves (PSD) |
| Area | |
• Total | 94.86 km2 (36.63 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 255 m (837 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 17,131 |
| • Density | 180/km2 (470/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+00:00 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+01:00 (WEST) |
| Postal code | 5054 |
| Area code | 254 |
| Website | www |
Peso da Régua (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈpezuðɐˈʁɛɣwɐ]ⓘ), commonly known asRégua, is a city and municipality in northernPortugal, in the district ofVila Real. The population in 2011 was 17,131[1] (of which approximately 10,000 are in the town of Régua), in an area of 94.86 km2 (36.63 sq mi) km².[2]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1849 | 9,202 | — |
| 1900 | 18,401 | +100.0% |
| 1930 | 20,612 | +12.0% |
| 1960 | 22,634 | +9.8% |
| 1981 | 22,472 | −0.7% |
| 1991 | 21,567 | −4.0% |
| 2001 | 18,832 | −12.7% |
| 2011 | 17,131 | −9.0% |
Historians have suggested that Peso da Régua was inhabited during theRoman,Suebi andVisigothic periods. There are competing theories over where the toponym "Peso da Régua" could have originated:Vila Reggula, the name of a Roman country estate;récua, a word for livestock, which may have crossed theDouro at this location; orreguengo a designation for lands that were owned by the crown. Peso da Régua could also have originated from the wordregra (English:rule), alluding to the hereditary rights of descendants achieved throughforals. This theory is based on the donation of lands by Counts Henrique and Hugo in 1093, which were transferred to Egas Moniz. It is possible that thisrule gave origin to the wordRégoa, and later Régua. In regards to the word,Peso (English:Weight), there are two hypothesis on its origin: the location being where goods were weighted and taxed; or the place where animals were fed (Portuguese:pensado),Penso[3]
Peso de Régua received its foral from KingSancho I, who conferred on the locality of Godim the municipal charter.[3]
On 3 February 1837, Peso da Régua was elevated to the status ofvila (English:town), which included the annexed municipality of Godim, the civil parishes of Godim, Loureiro, Fontelas, Moura Morta and Sedielos.[3]
Its important role as municipality only achieved its zenith in 1836, after the Marquess of Pombal designated theDouro wine region, as a quality brand for export.[3] This was helped through the creation ofCompanhia Geral das Vinhas do Alto Douro, in 1756, which delimited the vineyards of the Douro Valley by granite markers (Portuguese:Marcos de Feitora) to regulate the vineyards and wines produced. After this point, through commercialization and centralization, Régoa began to become the centre of the region.[3]
On 31 December 1859, due to the extinction of the municipality of Canelas, the parishes of Poiares, Covelinhas, Vilarinho de Freires and Galafura were added to the municipality.[3]
On 11 December 1933, the parish of Vinhos was created from the de-annexed region of Sedielos, resulting in a municipality of eleven parishes threaded along the Douro.[3]
Within the integration of Canelas, in 1976, the municipality grew to twelve.[3]
Peso da Régua became a city on 14 August 1985.[3]
In 1988, theOffice Internacional de la Vigne et du Vin recognized the municipality as theCidade Internacional da Vinha e do Vinho (English:International City of Vine and Wine).[3]
Peso da Régua as aMediterranean climate (Köppen:Csa) with hot, dry summers and cool to mild, wet winters. The average annual temperature is 22 °C (72 °F) during the day and 10 °C (50 °F) at night.
| Climate data for Régua, 1971-2000 normals and extremes, 1961-1990 sunshine hours | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 19.5 (67.1) | 24.5 (76.1) | 29.0 (84.2) | 33.0 (91.4) | 35.5 (95.9) | 39.5 (103.1) | 42.8 (109.0) | 41.5 (106.7) | 40.0 (104.0) | 34.5 (94.1) | 26.0 (78.8) | 25.5 (77.9) | 42.8 (109.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 12.4 (54.3) | 15.5 (59.9) | 18.7 (65.7) | 20.2 (68.4) | 23.3 (73.9) | 28.0 (82.4) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.8 (89.2) | 28.8 (83.8) | 22.8 (73.0) | 17.0 (62.6) | 13.4 (56.1) | 22.0 (71.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.1 (46.6) | 10.3 (50.5) | 12.7 (54.9) | 14.4 (57.9) | 17.3 (63.1) | 21.1 (70.0) | 23.9 (75.0) | 23.9 (75.0) | 21.4 (70.5) | 16.8 (62.2) | 12.1 (53.8) | 9.5 (49.1) | 16.0 (60.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.8 (38.8) | 5.1 (41.2) | 6.6 (43.9) | 8.6 (47.5) | 11.2 (52.2) | 14.3 (57.7) | 16.3 (61.3) | 15.9 (60.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 10.8 (51.4) | 7.3 (45.1) | 5.6 (42.1) | 10.0 (49.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −5.0 (23.0) | −3.5 (25.7) | −1.5 (29.3) | −2.5 (27.5) | 2.6 (36.7) | 6.0 (42.8) | 9.5 (49.1) | 8.5 (47.3) | 4.0 (39.2) | −1.0 (30.2) | −2.0 (28.4) | −4.0 (24.8) | −5.0 (23.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 113.6 (4.47) | 103.9 (4.09) | 53.9 (2.12) | 76.2 (3.00) | 59.9 (2.36) | 34.8 (1.37) | 14.5 (0.57) | 13.7 (0.54) | 40.1 (1.58) | 93.5 (3.68) | 100.5 (3.96) | 144.3 (5.68) | 848.9 (33.42) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 13.5 | 11.6 | 10.0 | 12.2 | 11.3 | 6.6 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 6.7 | 11.7 | 11.9 | 14.1 | 115.6 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 88 | 110 | 165 | 186 | 235 | 269 | 321 | 305 | 210 | 161 | 106 | 77 | 2,233 |
| Source:Instituto de Meteorologia[4][5] | |||||||||||||
Administratively, the municipality is divided into 8 civil parishes (freguesias):[6]
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It cannot be expressed how importantPort Wine helped to catapult the fortunes of Peso da Régua:
The mark founded in the landscape, in the lives of men and the system of relationships, more than its economic importance, to the region and the country, made the Port Wine a cultural fact, a Portuguese cultural patrimony, a universal wine. It is this generous wine, with singular characteristics, old, sweet and aromatic, completed centuries of experience, of work, of knowledge and art, of solidarity and conflicts. Complemented by nature, with united exceptional conditions on the flanks of schist along the Douro valley, the wine of Porto is, like many of the great wines, a human product. Of the Dourense, clearly, but also too the businessmen of Porto, the English, the poor of theCold Lands ofTrás-os-Montes andBeira, the careers of the people of Minho and Galicia...Here, in the demarcated region of wines, that are considered the oldest in the world (1756), in the contemporary sense a denomination of origin, the history of the peoples and vineyards advance, along the centuries and roads parallel.quote text
— Gaspar Martins Pereira, (2000) Memória do Rio. Para uma história da navegação no Douro. Edições Afrontamento. Porto
Tourist boats ply the river from this point carrying tourists through the locks of twodams to Régua. The town is also connected toPorto by train; theDouro railway line runs along the banks of the Douro. Until its closure in 2009, the narrow gauge railway of theCorgo line also served the town.
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