Matosinhos Municipality (mɐtuˈziɲuʃ) is located in Porto District

Porto District

The District of Porto , sometimes Oporto in English, is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country...

, Portugal. The main city is Matosinhos

Matosinhos

Matosinhos Municipality is located in Porto District, Portugal. The main city is Matosinhos. It is bordered to the south by the city of Porto and lies within the Greater Porto subregion. The municipality has a population of 168,451 in 10 parishes. Many people have recently moved from the...

. It is bordered to the south by the city of Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

 and lies within the Greater Porto subregion. The municipality has a population of 168,451 in 10 parishes. Many people have recently moved from the surrounding area to live there. It was also where poet Florbela Espanca died: a local library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 is named after her. Matosinhos is located on the seacoast and is a commercial and industrial centre in the Porto Metropolitan Area. Matosinhos has good summer weather, nice beaches, but cool water temperature.

History and landmarks

When Portugal was born in the 12th century, Matosinhos already existed - It was called at that time Vila de Matesinum. One of the first official records referring to Matusiny dates from 1258, the result of Afonso III inquiries. At that time Matosinhos was a humble place, part of the parish of Sandim. Matosinhos has some local landmarks such as Castelo Do Queijo

Castelo Do Queijo

Castelo do Queijo , also known as Forte de São Francisco Xavier, is a castle/fort in Porto, Portugal. This fort is placed in the sea side near and the wall facing the sea is often hit by the waves depending on the tides...

 and Forte de Nossa Senhora Da Conceição

Forte de Nossa Senhora Da Conceição

Forte de Nossa Senhora das Neves also known as Castelo de Leça its a fort located in Matosinhos, in the Leça da Palmeira parish. This fort is very similar to the other fort in the city, Castelo Do Queijo but instead of being located on the sea side it's located a few yards distant from the local...

, this one in Leça da Palmeira

Leça da Palmeira

Leça da Palmeira is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Matosinhos and part of the city with the same name. It has 5.97 km² and had 17.215 inhabitants in the 2001 census....

.

In 2005, the municipality funded a public sculpture to be built in the Waterfront Plaza of Matosinhos. The resulting sculpture is entitled She Changes

She Changes

She Changes is a sculpture designed by artist Janet Echelman for the cities of Porto and Matosinhos, Northern Portugal. The installation consists of three steel poles, cables, a 20-ton steel ring, and a net structure of varying densities and colors. The sculpture is Echelman's first permanent...

by American artist, Janet Echelman

Janet Echelman

Janet Echelman is an American artist specializing in public art installations and sculpture. She graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with Highest Honors in Visual Studies. From 1988-1993 Echelman lived and worked in Bali, Indonesia before returning to America. She created her first permanent...

, and spans the height of 50x150x150 meters.

Economy

The international Leixões

Leixões

Leixões is located 4 km to the north of Douro River mouth, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões is one of Portugal's major seaports. Leixões Sport Club, commonly knows simply as Leixões, is Matosinhos' sports club....

 seaport and a large oil refinery of Galp Energia

Galp Energia

The Galp Energia Group is a Portuguese corporation which consists of more than 100 companies engaged in activities such as natural gas supply, regasification, transport, storage, and distribution; petroleum products exploration, production, refining, trading, logistics and retailing; co-generation...

, are located in Leça da Palmeira

Leça da Palmeira

Leça da Palmeira is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Matosinhos and part of the city with the same name. It has 5.97 km² and had 17.215 inhabitants in the 2001 census....

, Matosinhos. EFACEC

EFACEC

The EFACEC Group is the largest Portuguese corporation in the field of electromechanics and electronics, with a strong presence in different international markets. It is headquartered in Matosinhos, Greater Porto area, Portugal. The José de Mello corporation owns about 50% of EFACEC's capital....

, a leading Portuguese company in the electromechanics industry, is headquartered in the city. Pedro Hispano Hospital (after Pedro Hispano), is one of the most comprehensive state-run hospitals of 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...

, and serves the entire Porto Metropolitan Area.

Sports

Matosinhos municipality is home to Portuguese top flight

Portuguese Liga

The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...

 club Leixões Sport Club

Leixões Sport Club

Leixões Sport Club, commonly known as just Leixões, is a sports club from Matosinhos, Portugal. It is organized into several specialized departments for many events such as football, boxing, karate, volleyball, swimming, and billiards...

 as well as Leça Futebol Clube and other minor clubs.

List of Matosinhos teams

• Leixões Sport Club
  Leixões Sport Club
  Leixões Sport Club, commonly known as just Leixões, is a sports club from Matosinhos, Portugal. It is organized into several specialized departments for many events such as football, boxing, karate, volleyball, swimming, and billiards...
  
  
• Leça Futebol Clube
• Sporting Clube de Senhora da Hora
  SC Senhora da Hora
  SC Senhora da Hora is a Portuguese football club from the city of Matosinhos and it's the main club in the parish of Senhora da Hora although in recent years local rivals Padroense are emerging and have gain promotion to the upper divisions of national football...
  
  
• Futebol Clube da Infesta
• Padroense
• Futebol Clube da Perafita
  FC Perafita
  FC Perafita is a sports team located in the parish of Perafita in the Matosinhos municipality.The team is most known for its football section that competes in the Portuguese regional leagues under de A.F Porto association....
  
  
• Juventude de Matosinhos
• Seara Futebol Clube

Parishes

• Matosinhos
• Leça da Palmeira
  Leça da Palmeira
  Leça da Palmeira is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Matosinhos and part of the city with the same name. It has 5.97 km² and had 17.215 inhabitants in the 2001 census....
  
  
• Senhora da Hora
• São Mamede de Infesta
  São Mamede de Infesta
  São Mamede de Infesta, or simply Infesta, is a Portuguese city in the municipality of Matosinhos, Portugal. It has a population of approximately 28,000 inhabitants and is located just north of the city of Porto....
  
  
• Leça do Balio
• Custóias
  Custóias
  Custóias is a Portuguese parish in the municipality of Matosinhos that lies within the Greater Porto area. Custóias is a Village since 2003. The village is from Matosinhos and from Porto.-Description:...
  
  
• Guifões
• Santa Cruz do Bispo
• Perafita
• Lavra