Viseu

The origins of the city of Viseu date back to the Celtic period when it was called ‘Vissaîegobor’. With its Romanization, the settlement gained importance and was renamed ‘Vissaium’, being at the intersection of a series of Roman roads linking Mérida, Lisbon, and Galicia.

Viseu is associated with Viriathus, since it is thought that the Lusitanian hero may have been born in this region. After the Roman occupation of the peninsula, under the Visigoths, the settlement was elevated to the status of city and to the seat of a diocese by at least the 6th century.

The Church of Mercy or Igreja da Misericórdia.

Viseu is approximately 50 km (31 mi) East of the Atlantic Ocean. Surrounded by a number of mountains – Leomil, Montemuro, Lapa, Arada, Estrela and Caramulo – the tops of which are covered with thick layers of snow in Winter time, the district is crossed by a network of rivers and streamlets.

The city of Viseu has an almost central position in relation to the District lying on the so-called Viseu Plateau (in Portuguese Planalto de Viseu). It is surrounded by a mountainous system constituted to the north by the Leonil, Montemuro, and Lapa hills, to the northeast by the Arado hills, to the south and southeast by the Serra da Estrela and the Lousã hills and to the west by the Caramulo hills.

The Municipality is characterized by an irregular surface with altitudes ranging between 400 and 700 metres (1,300 and 2,300 feet). With a rough terrain, it has numerous water courses. These are found in three basins: the Vouga, the Dão and the Paiva.

Viseu is twinned with:[8]

The city and the region are famous for its wine (Dão Wine) and the Dão Wine institute, the Solar do Vinho do Dão can be found in the city. There is also an annual fair, the Feira de São Mateus. Furthermore, Viseu is also known for local handicrafts which include black pottery, bobbin lace, embroidery, and copper and wrought iron articles. With the good connections to major industrial centers and to the ports of Aveiro and Leixões, several industries have been installed in Viseu. Visabeira, a Portugal-based international conglomerate with interests in telecommunications, construction, industry, tourism, real estate and diversified services is headquartered in the city. Viseu also boasts a central hospital (Hospital of São Teotónio), two shopping & cinema complexes (the Fórum (2005) and the Palácio do Gelo (2008)), and numerous hostels and hotels in all categories.

The city of Viseu has a bus network – MUV – which operates several lines within the entire municipality and a recently installed funicular connecting the lower city with the upper city. The A25 motorway (formerly called IP5) connects Viseu to the seaport of Aveiro and Guarda and then on to Salamanca in Spain. The IP3 and A24, connecting Coimbra with Chaves on the Spanish border, crosses Viseu from south to north. Until the nineteen eighties Viseu had railway connections with the coast, but these were closed.

Viseu is now one of the largest cities in Europe without a railway connection. Once it was connected to Aveiro (via the Vouga line, a narrow gauge railway), and Santa Comba Dão (on the Dão line, another narrow gauge railway), where it had connection to the Linha da Beira Alta (broad gauge; international). The Dão line closed to passengers in 1988.

The municipality has an airfield – the Viseu Airport (code VSE) also known as Lobato, parish of Lordosa, Viseu – that offers schedules commercial flights to some domestic destinations with Aero VIP.

Viseu is the location of the state-run Instituto Politécnico de Viseu which has higher education polytechnic schools of education, technology and management, and agronomy. The city's political and civic groups have been pressuring the national government to upgrade this school into a university, but its desire was never achieved. However, there are 2 private university institutions, the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and the Instituto Piaget. Furthermore, since the Bologna process, the difference between universities and polytechnics are less relevant, with the exception of some degrees like medicine, economics or law, that are only awarded in universities.

There are three secondary education (the Portuguese equivalent of High School) establishments: the Escola Secundária de Viriato, Escola Secundária Alves Martins and Escola Secundária Emídio Navarro.

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  Cathedral of Viseu
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  São João da Tarouca convent
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  Viriato Theatre, Portugal
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  Town hall of Viseu
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  Towers and façade of the Cathedral
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  Interior of Viseu Cathedral
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  Viseu, Portugal
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  Remains of the city wall.
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  Altar of Igreja da Misericórdia.
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  View of Viseu
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  Viseu's Forum
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  Palácio do Gelo, Viseu
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  Bank of Portugal
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  Town centre of Viseu

• Vasco Fernandes (c.1475–c.1542), better known as Grão Vasco, one of the principal Portuguese painters of the Renaissance.
• João de Barros (c.1496–20 October 1570), historian, most famous for his Décadas da Ásia ("Decades of Asia"), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southeast Africa.
• Carlos Lopes (born 18 February 1947), is a former long-distance runner, winner of the 1984 Summer Olympics marathon, at the time it was the first Portuguese Olympic gold medal and Olympic Record.
• Manuel Maria Carrilho (9 July 1951) is a philosopher, academic and Socialist politician, as Minister of Culture (from 1995 to 2000).
• Paulo Sousa (born 30 August 1970) is a former-footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder, and later coach for Italian club ACF Fiorentina.
• Álvaro Santos Pereira (born 7 January 1972) is an economist, professor, writer, as well as former Minister of Economy, Labour, Transport, Public Works and Communications of Portugal between June 2011 and July 2013.
• João Félix (born 10 November 1999) is a professional football player who currently plays for Atlético Madrid.