Amadora
Encyclopedia
Amadora is a city
and a municipality
in Portugal
, in the northwest of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area
. The city and municipality population is 175,872 in eleven freguesia
s (parishes). With an area of 23.77 km², it is the most densely populated municipality of Portugal. Amadora is a satellite city of Lisbon
, one of the smallest Portuguese municipalities (24 km²), but one of the most populous.
The municipality was formed on September 11, 1979, when it ceased being a parish of Oeiras Municipality. It was incorporated as a city since that date.
Amadora is one of the largest cities in Portugal by population. It forms a conurbation
with the Portuguese capital Lisbon
, and both cities share the same subway, bus and train network. It is also a major residential suburb
of the capital, and the landscape is dominated by large apartment blocks and some industry. Amadora is also home to a big community of African immigrants, mostly from Angola
and Cape Verde
.
Although major rehabilitation plans have been started, Amadora is still regarded as a city with a crime rate higher than the national average
, and notorious for its traffic jams.
Every year, Amadora city
organizes the Amadora International Comics Festivalhttp://www.amadorabd.com/.
Its flag is a typical gyronny of green over white. It includes a 5-towered mural crown, and a scroll that reads "CIDADE DA AMADORA". The shield is green, has in chef a yellowish airplane propeller and a silver windsock, then an aqueduct and below a pomegranate tree also in that yellowish colour of the propeller, with fruits with something red within.
Initially called Porcalhota, for being a Majorat
of the daughter of one man surnamed Porcalho who was called for being a female Porcalhota, it later changed its name to the present day one.
At the present time Amadora does not have any airfield. However, in the 1920s a small airfield (the first in Portugal) was located here. The first air-travel from Portugal to Brazil had its departure from Amadora. The Captain of the airplane was Adm. Gago Coutinho
, a well known Portuguese celebrity. This justifies the airplane propeller and a silver windsock on the Amadora's flag.
The arches represent the famous Free Waters Aqueduct (Aqueduto das Águas Livres), which brings water from Sintra
hills to Lisbon
, stretching some 30 km through these three municipalities. It was finished in the 1770s and includes the largest masonry only arch ever built, located in Campolide — local coat of arms also displays the aqueduct (like others along its way).
The tree is a pomegranate
tree, one of the Amadora symbols. One possible explanation is:
The truth about the Amadora name is very simple.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, a group of persons, composed of industrialists, merchants and artists, guided by a concept of progress combined with modernism, to build a "Garden City" with a clear purpose of linking with the core of nature urban.
In 1907, at the request of the population, a decree by the King Carlos, determines that the posts of Porcalhota, Amadora and Venteira will have the common name of Amadora.
. The neighborhoods of Cova da Moura and Buraca, in Amadora, are an incredible example of what one might call lateral citizenship. In Cova da Moura and its surroundings, starting during the 1970s and 1980s, in less than 30 years, over 10,000 men and women, mostly from the Africa
n islands of Cabo Verde (but also from the North of Portugal, Angola
, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique
and Eastern Europe
), built an illegal town in one of the suburban areas around Lisbon. A large part of the property is private, and a small part is either common ground or it belongs to a solidarity institution. Some violent events took place in 2001 and 2002: by December 2001, a 17-year-old boy was shot dead in his back by the Police; in February 2002 Felisberto, a young black policeman born and raised in Cova da Moura was shot and killed by drug dealers. These tragic incidents put Cova da Moura on the media map. Drug dealing, gangs and gang wars, as well as unemployment
, poverty
, underground economy
and chaotic urban planning
are responsible for most of the fear that Cova da Moura inspires to any average citizen. The place is, however, home to dozens of hairdressers that operate in Cova da Moura and are responsible for some of the most creative hair sculptures one can see everywhere in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area
, and is a centre of both rap music and Hip Hop Tuga
suburban culture.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
and a municipality
Municipalities of Portugal
In Portugal, municipality or concelho is the most stable subdivision of Portugal since the foundation of the country.Portugal has an entirely separate system of cities and towns. Cities and towns are located in municipalities, but often do not have the same boundaries, even if built-up is continuous...
in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, in the northwest of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area
Lisbon Metropolitan Area
Lisbon Metropolitan Area is a territorial zone that includes 18 municipalities in Portugal. The smaller Grande Lisboa area is a subregion of the NUTS II Lisbon Region by its own right....
. The city and municipality population is 175,872 in eleven freguesia
Freguesia
Freguesia is the Portuguese term for a secondary local administrative unit in Portugal and some of its former colonies, and a former secondary local administrative unit in Macau, roughly equivalent to an administrative parish. A freguesia is a subdivision of a concelho, the Portuguese synonym term...
s (parishes). With an area of 23.77 km², it is the most densely populated municipality of Portugal. Amadora is a satellite city of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, one of the smallest Portuguese municipalities (24 km²), but one of the most populous.
The municipality was formed on September 11, 1979, when it ceased being a parish of Oeiras Municipality. It was incorporated as a city since that date.
Amadora is one of the largest cities in Portugal by population. It forms a conurbation
Conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...
with the Portuguese capital Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, and both cities share the same subway, bus and train network. It is also a major residential suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of the capital, and the landscape is dominated by large apartment blocks and some industry. Amadora is also home to a big community of African immigrants, mostly from Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
.
Although major rehabilitation plans have been started, Amadora is still regarded as a city with a crime rate higher than the national average
Crime in Portugal
Crime in Portugal is characterized by low levels of gun violence and homicide, compared to other developed countries. Crime statistics are compiled annually by the Portuguese Ministry of Internal Administration and the Polícia de Segurança Pública which represents crimes reported to the police.The...
, and notorious for its traffic jams.
Every year, Amadora city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
organizes the Amadora International Comics Festivalhttp://www.amadorabd.com/.
About the city flag and coat of arms
Initially called Porcalhota, for being a Majorat
Majorat
Majorat is the right of succession to property according to age . A majorat would be inherited by the oldest son, or if there was no son, the nearest relative. This law existed in some of the European countries and was designed to prevent the distribution of wealthy estates between many members of...
of the daughter of one man surnamed Porcalho who was called for being a female Porcalhota, it later changed its name to the present day one.
At the present time Amadora does not have any airfield. However, in the 1920s a small airfield (the first in Portugal) was located here. The first air-travel from Portugal to Brazil had its departure from Amadora. The Captain of the airplane was Adm. Gago Coutinho
Gago Coutinho
Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho, GCTE, GCC, generally known simply as Gago Coutinho was a Portuguese aviation pioneer who, together with Sacadura Cabral , was the first to cross the South Atlantic Ocean by air, from March to June 1922 , from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.The Fairey IIIB seaplane used by...
, a well known Portuguese celebrity. This justifies the airplane propeller and a silver windsock on the Amadora's flag.
The arches represent the famous Free Waters Aqueduct (Aqueduto das Águas Livres), which brings water from Sintra
Sintra
Sintra is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion of Portugal. Owing to its 19th century Romantic architecture and landscapes, becoming a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.In addition to...
hills to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, stretching some 30 km through these three municipalities. It was finished in the 1770s and includes the largest masonry only arch ever built, located in Campolide — local coat of arms also displays the aqueduct (like others along its way).
The tree is a pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
tree, one of the Amadora symbols. One possible explanation is:
- "Pomegranate" = "Romã" in Portuguese.
- "Romã", read backwards is "amor" ("love" in Portuguese).
- "Amadora" means "she-lover", the female that loves ("amadora" is a female noun. In Portuguese, a city usually is a female noun) and also "female amateur".
- "Amadora"'s name also comes from a well known and very kind lady called Dora who was an Ama (Baby-Sitter).
The truth about the Amadora name is very simple.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, a group of persons, composed of industrialists, merchants and artists, guided by a concept of progress combined with modernism, to build a "Garden City" with a clear purpose of linking with the core of nature urban.
In 1907, at the request of the population, a decree by the King Carlos, determines that the posts of Porcalhota, Amadora and Venteira will have the common name of Amadora.
Social issues
Although major rehabilitation plans have been started, Amadora is still regarded as a city with a crime rate higher than the national averageCrime in Portugal
Crime in Portugal is characterized by low levels of gun violence and homicide, compared to other developed countries. Crime statistics are compiled annually by the Portuguese Ministry of Internal Administration and the Polícia de Segurança Pública which represents crimes reported to the police.The...
. The neighborhoods of Cova da Moura and Buraca, in Amadora, are an incredible example of what one might call lateral citizenship. In Cova da Moura and its surroundings, starting during the 1970s and 1980s, in less than 30 years, over 10,000 men and women, mostly from the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n islands of Cabo Verde (but also from the North of Portugal, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
), built an illegal town in one of the suburban areas around Lisbon. A large part of the property is private, and a small part is either common ground or it belongs to a solidarity institution. Some violent events took place in 2001 and 2002: by December 2001, a 17-year-old boy was shot dead in his back by the Police; in February 2002 Felisberto, a young black policeman born and raised in Cova da Moura was shot and killed by drug dealers. These tragic incidents put Cova da Moura on the media map. Drug dealing, gangs and gang wars, as well as unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, underground economy
Underground economy
A black market or underground economy is a market in goods or services which operates outside the formal one supported by established state power. Typically the totality of such activity is referred to with the definite article as a complement to the official economies, by market for such goods and...
and chaotic urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
are responsible for most of the fear that Cova da Moura inspires to any average citizen. The place is, however, home to dozens of hairdressers that operate in Cova da Moura and are responsible for some of the most creative hair sculptures one can see everywhere in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area
Lisbon Metropolitan Area
Lisbon Metropolitan Area is a territorial zone that includes 18 municipalities in Portugal. The smaller Grande Lisboa area is a subregion of the NUTS II Lisbon Region by its own right....
, and is a centre of both rap music and Hip Hop Tuga
Hip hop Tuga
Portuguese hip hop more usually known as Hip Hop Tuga is the Portuguese variety of hip hop music.Hip Hop Tuga is different from mainstream hip hop because it has strong influences from African music from Lusophone Africa, Reggae, and Portuguese Fado...
suburban culture.
Parishes
- Alfornelos
- AlfragideAlfragideAlfragide is a parish in the municipality of Amadora, with 1.35 square kilometers of area and 8 739 inhabitants . Density: 6 478.1 km ².Its patron Our Lady of Fatima....
- BrandoaBrandoaBrandoa is a Portuguese civil parish of the municipality of Amadora, in the outskirts of Lisbon, with 2,39 km² of area and 15,647 inhabitants ....
- BuracaBuracaBuraca is a parish in the municipality of Amadora. It has and 16,061 inhabitants and an area of 1.66 square kilometers, as of 2001.Its patron is Our Lady Mother of God....
- Damaia
- Falagueira
- Mina
- Reboleira
- São Brás
- Venda Nova
- Venteira
External links
- Câmara Municipal da Amadora - official municipal Web site
- Amadora International Comics Festival - official festival Web site
- Photos from AMADORA