Figueira da Foz

Figueira da Foz (Portuguese pronunciation: [fiˈɣɐjɾɐ ðɐ ˈfɔʃ] (listen)), also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, 40 km (25 mi) west of Coimbra and sheltered by hills (Serra da Boa Viagem), sharing about the same latitude with Philadelphia, Baku and Beijing. The population in 2011 was 62,125,[1] in an area of 379.05 km2 (146.35 sq mi).[2] The city of Figueira da Foz proper has a population of 46,600. It is the second largest city in the district of Coimbra.

Figueira da Foz
Municipality
Flag
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 40°09′N 8°51′W
Country Portugal
RegionCentro
Intermunic. comm.Região de Coimbra
DistrictCoimbra
Parishes14
Government
 • PresidentCarlos Monteiro (PS)
Area
 • Total379.05 km2 (146.35 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total62,125
 • Density160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC±00:00 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+01:00 (WEST)
Local holiday24 June
Websitehttp://www.cm-figfoz.pt/

It is a coastal city with several beaches, summer and seaport facilities on the Atlantic Ocean coast. As a tourism city, it plays an important part in the centre of the country. A zone of legal gambling, one can find in Figueira one of the biggest casinos of the Iberian Peninsula – the Casino Figueira.

History and landmarks

According to the legend the place's name is due to a fig tree, which stood at the quay of Salmanha, where the fishermen used to tie up their boats. The historian Nelson Borges said, however, that Figueira comes from the word "fagaria", which means "opening, huge mouth". Foz comes from the Latin word "fouces" = "mouth of a river", and Mondego comes from the pre-romanic expressions "mond" = "mouth" and "aec"= "river". That means, Figueira da Foz would be "the river’s mouth opening". Some historical traces show that people were settling in this region since the Neolithic age. The oldest known document, however, dates from the year 1096. In this an abbot named Pedro donates estates, which belonged to the church of S. Julião, to the cathedral Sé Velha of Coimbra.

Knowing the great importance rivers had in the development of cities and of ancient civilizations, the mouth of the Mondego must have played a central role for the fixation of men in this region and for the formation of settlements, which were the beginning of the city of Figueira da Foz. Figueira da Foz had a huge development during the 18th and 19th centuries due to the immense port movements and the expansion of the shipbuilding and cod drying industry,[3] supplying the city with new communication routes, housing and other facilities. It was elevated to vila (small town) on 12 March 1771 and turned city (cidade) on 20 September 1882. Discovered as a sea resort by the end of the 19th century, it gained great reputation in the 1920s and 1930s. The city had the Portuguese nickname of Rainha das Praias (Queen of the Beaches).

The municipality has some noted landmarks like the Sotto Mayor Palace, the old fishing village of Buarcos, the Serra da Boa Viagem – a small forested mountain by the Atlantic Ocean, several beaches, and its large seaside promenade paved with typical Portuguese pavement. Figueira da Foz has several Churches, many of them in the rich Baroque style, a Municipal Museum with archaeological, ethnographic and artistic collection, the Santa Catarina Fort and the old Buarcos Fortress, the Relógio Tower by the main sandy beachy, several archaeological vestiges throughout the municipality, several Palaces and Manor Houses (like the Sotto Mayor Palace), as well as several green spaces and small gardens like those in the area of Abadias.

Economy

The city is an important industrial centre, producing wood pulp and paper (Soporcel – a Portucel Soporcel company; CELBI – an Altri company) and glass (Saint-Gobain Mondego – a Saint-Gobain company). It also has notable naval construction and fish industries, as well as a factory of the CIMPOR Group installed in the Mondego Cape (Cabo Mondego). The seaport and the fishing harbour are also important for its economy.

With its old and renowned casino (Casino da Figueira), the marina, several hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities, Figueira is actually a very important Atlantic beach resort, in the center of Portugal's Silver Coast/Costa de Prata tourism region. A generally windy coastal area, its relatively cold seawaters are particularly renowned as a surf and kitesurf hotspot in the same fashion as other places throughout the west coast of Portugal. Places like Nazaré, Peniche or Ericeira. In July and August its main beaches are usually packed with beachgoers too.

Education

The city has well-equipped kindergartens, schools and high schools. It had two private universities: the Catholic University of Portugal (Figueira da Foz branch) and the Internacional University[4] (Figueira da Foz branch) but they were closed in 2009 due to lack of funds and academic integrity.

Parishes
Buarcos Beach before a storm

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 14 civil parishes (freguesias):[5]

  • Alhadas
  • Alqueidão
  • Bom Sucesso
  • Buarcos
  • Ferreira-a-Nova
  • Lavos
  • Maiorca
  • Marinha das Ondas
  • Moinhos da Gândara
  • Paião
  • Quiaios
  • São Pedro
  • Tavarede
  • Vila Verde

Demographics
Population of Figueira da Foz Municipality (1801–2011)
1801 1849 1900 1930 1960 1981 1991 2001 2008 2011
10 281 8 021 43 032 49 590 57 631 58 559 61 555 62 601 63 135 62 125

Climate

Figueira da Foz has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb) characterized by mild, rainy winters and dry, warm summers. The annual average temperature is around 15 °C (59 °F) and the annual average rainfall is about 600 mm (24 in). The sea surface temperature varies from 14–15 °C (57–59 °F) in January and February to 18–19 °C (64–66 °F) in the August and September. In the summer afternoons moderate to (occasionally) strong north-westerly winds are common. Subtropical Storm Alpha, notable for being the only tropical or subtropical cyclone to make landfall in Portugal on record, made landfall at peak intensity in the general vicinity of the city on 18 September 2020.[6]

Climate data for Figueira da Foz
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 22.0
(71.6)		 24.0
(75.2)		 26.5
(79.7)		 30.0
(86.0)		 32.6
(90.7)		 37.0
(98.6)		 39.5
(103.1)		 36.4
(97.5)		 33.0
(91.4)		 36.0
(96.8)		 29.2
(84.6)		 23.2
(73.8)		 39.5
(103.1)
Average high °C (°F) 14.0
(57.2)		 15.0
(59.0)		 17.1
(62.8)		 18.8
(65.8)		 19.9
(67.8)		 22.7
(72.9)		 23.9
(75.0)		 24.6
(76.3)		 23.4
(74.1)		 21.2
(70.2)		 17.2
(63.0)		 14.5
(58.1)		 19.4
(66.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 10.4
(50.7)		 11.2
(52.2)		 13.2
(55.8)		 14.7
(58.5)		 16.0
(60.8)		 18.5
(65.3)		 19.6
(67.3)		 20.1
(68.2)		 19.2
(66.6)		 17.1
(62.8)		 13.6
(56.5)		 11.1
(52.0)		 15.4
(59.7)
Average low °C (°F) 6.9
(44.4)		 7.4
(45.3)		 9.3
(48.7)		 10.6
(51.1)		 12.2
(54.0)		 14.4
(57.9)		 15.4
(59.7)		 15.7
(60.3)		 15.1
(59.2)		 13.1
(55.6)		 10.0
(50.0)		 7.7
(45.9)		 11.5
(52.7)
Record low °C (°F) −0.1
(31.8)		 −3.0
(26.6)		 0.4
(32.7)		 0.8
(33.4)		 7.0
(44.6)		 10.2
(50.4)		 7.0
(44.6)		 5.0
(41.0)		 4.0
(39.2)		 2.0
(35.6)		 2.0
(35.6)		 0.0
(32.0)		 −3.0
(26.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 128.0
(5.04)		 119.0
(4.69)		 73.0
(2.87)		 80.0
(3.15)		 67.0
(2.64)		 36.0
(1.42)		 9.0
(0.35)		 11.0
(0.43)		 43.0
(1.69)		 95.0
(3.74)		 126.0
(4.96)		 113.0
(4.45)		 900
(35.43)
Average precipitation days 12 11 8 11 7 7 3 1 4 8 10 11 83
Source 1: climatedata.org[7]
Source 2: INMG, 1931-1960 Climatology (extremes & precipitation days)[8]

Beaches of Figueira da Foz
  • Praia da Figueira da Foz – Relógio – Praia da Bola de Nivea (Europe's widest urban beach)
  • Praia da Gala – Figueira da Foz (Cova Gala)
  • Praia da Murtinheira – Figueira da Foz
  • Praia do Cabo Mondego – Figueira da Foz
  • Praia da Leirosa – Figueira da Foz
  • Praia da Costa de Lavos – Figueira da Foz
  • Praia da Orbitur – Figueira da Foz
  • Praia da Cova – Cova Gala (Figueira da Foz)
  • Praia do Cabedelo – Figueira da Foz (Cova Gala)
  • Praia da Claridade – Figueira da Foz
  • Praia de Buarcos – Tamargueira (Figueira da Foz) e Plataforma (Figueira da Foz)
  • Praia do Vale do Emide – Figueira da Foz
  • Praia de Quiaios – Figueira da Foz (Quiaios)
  • Hotels in Figueira
  • Beach in Quiaios
  • Figueira da Foz Bus Station
  • Torre do Relógio, Figueira da Foz
  • Castelo das Conchas
  • Beach off the city
  • Farol do Mondego Lighthouse
  • Figueira da Foz Arts Centre
  • Municipal Council
  • One of the casinos in Figueira da Foz, Portugal

Sports

Figueira da Foz is home to Associação Naval 1º Maio, best known for its football team which spent six seasons between 2005 and 2011 in the national top tier, the Primeira Liga. The city is also the home of the basketball department of Ginásio Clube Figueirense which competes in the Portuguese basketball league, adding rowing and swimming to their more notorious activities.[9]

The Tennis Club da Figueira da Foz was founded 1917 and is still located next to the Santa Catarina Fort at the mouth of the Mondego River today.

The city hosted the Mundialto international beachsoccer tournament from 1997 to 2004.

International surf competitions frequently take place in Figueira like the World Surf Championship 2010[10] or the IFCA Slaloms Worlds 2008[11]

International Relations

Figueira da Foz is twinned [12] with:

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "Statistics Portugal". Instituto Nacional de Estatística.
  2. "Áreas das freguesias, concelhos, distritos e país". Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  3. SILVA, A. J. M. (2015), The fable of the cod and the promised sea. About portuguese traditions of bacalhau, in BARATA, F. T- and ROCHA, J. M. (eds.), Heritages and Memories from the Sea, Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of the UNESCO Chair in Intangible Heritage and Traditional Know-How: Linking Heritage, 14–16 January 2015. University of Evora, Évora, pp. 130-143. PDF version
  4. Grand Union of Portugal. "Portal do Governo de Portugal: MCTES Universidade Internacional". www.portugal.gov.pt.
  5. Diário da República. "Law nr. 11-A/2013, pages 552 49-50" (pdf) (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  6. "Subtropical Storm ALPHA". www.nhc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  7. "Figueira da Foz Climate". climate-data.org. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  8. INMG (1970). Anuário Climatológico de Portugal, Fasc. XIII. Normais Climatológicas do Continente, Açores e Madeira correspondentes a 1931-1960 (2a ed.).
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Latest News".
  11. "DWSV Regatta Calendar (www.dwsv.net)". www.regattakalender.org.
  12. "Cidades geminadas com a Figueira da Foz". Associação Nacional de Munícipios Portugueses. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
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