Santarem
www.cm-santarem.pt
Santarém is a book of stone where the
most interesting and most poetic part of our chronicles is
written" (Almeida Garrett)
The foundation of the city of Santarém takes you back to
Greek-Roman and Christian mythology. The first documented
signs of human occupation date back to the 8th century B.C.
The population of the village had collaborated with Roman
colonizers when they arrived in 138 B.C. and gave it the
name Scallabis. During this period it became the main trade
emporium of Middle Tejo and one of the most important
administrative centers of the Lusitânia province.
During the four centuries of Islamic occupation that
followed, the city saw its strategic military role reborn
along with its cultural and artistic role, as some of the
most important poets and troubadours from the Arab world
were living there. The King Afonso VI of Lion gave the city
its first charter in 1095. Conquered again, in 1147, by D.
Afonso Henriques, the city was given a new charter in 1179.
During the 14th and 15th centuries the courtly atmosphere
of the city gave it cultural fame. There were many
important troubadours and minstrels, some of whom were
natives of Santarém.
In this "Acropolis Ribatejana", the Porta do Sol, with its
garden and belvedere, is ex-libris. Exploring the city,
porticos and rose-windows, arcades and dormer-windows,
decorative elements with ogival features, windows from the
time of King Manuel I, renaissance corners, small
escutcheons from the time of King Alfonso V, towers and
domes, all reveal an urban nucleus where civil and
religious elements co-habitated and intertwined. The
multitude and beautiful examples of gothic art gave the
city the name “The Gothic Capital". Here archaeologists,
historians, artists or simple passer-by can not fail to be
enchanted.
With the Carnations' revolution (April 1974), where
Santarém played relief role, the city consolidated the
“freedom spirit”. This ideal was reproduced in the mark
“Santarém - a story of freedom”, in which it project for
the future and it opens its arms to the world.
