On 5 December, Portimão celebrates 100 years of city status. Known as the second largest Algarvian city after Faro, Portimão has evolved over the centuries from a small Romanesque settlement into one of the best-loved cities in the region. To celebrate the city’s birthday, let’s take a look at the historic origins of Portimão and some of the notable figures who helped to put this city on the map.
There was a settlement on the site as far back as Phoenician times, however it was the Romans who saw the potential in turning the community into a trading port, thus giving the area the name Portus Magonis or Portimão.
The Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula began in 711. Portimão became an important stronghold for the Moors while they improved its infrastructure. Its strategic location allowed them to control trade routes and maintain a strong presence in the region. But by 1290, the seaport hamlet had become a fishing mecca after it was captured from the Moors by the Knights of the Order of Santiago.
Highly fought over, the batteries of São João, in Ferragudo, and Santa Catarina, in Praia da Rocha, were constructed in 1643 and 1621, respectively, to further fortify the area from frequent attacks by pirates along the Arade river. The area’s lucrative export of figs, olives, oil and wine, and imports of sugar from the African colonies and Brazil, made it a prime target.
By 1435, Portimão was elevated to town status by King Alfonso V. As the town expanded from the Arade river with new homes and businesses, the inhabitants petitioned for a new settlement, which was granted by King Alfonso V in 1453. The settlement eventually became the urbanised centre of Portimão, then named São Lourenço Barrosa.
By 1476, the town had been given the name Vila Nova de Portimão and was donated to the king’s financial inspector, Dom Gonçalo Vaz de Castelo Branco. The town remained family property until the 17th century, when it was returned to the state.
With its access to the Atlantic, Portimão founded a prosperous shipbuilding industry that became an important aspect of the area’s development. So much so that in 1573, King Sebastian made a royal visit to the town, staying within the cells of the then relatively new Convent of São Francisco, whose ruins can be seen today near the marina.
As prosperity grew in Portimão, so did its number of wealthy residents. The Viscount of Rocha, Frederico da Paz Mendes, and Viscount Francisco de Almeida Coelho Bívar, a Portimonense politician and key player in the development of the Algarve, both called Portimão home. Among Viscount Bívar’s many improvements to Portimão, he is credited with the construction of the Portimão road bridge, which opened in 1876. Popular folklore suggests the bridge was built using leftover steel taken from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but this is something of a conundrum because the Eiffel Tower wasn’t built until 1887 – perhaps Paris used leftover steel from the Portimão bridge?
Viscount Bívar’s former residence is today the offices of Portimão Câmara, while the gardens opposite the café Casa Inglesa (founded in 1922) are named after him. One of the most famous inhabitants, however, has to be the illustrious Manuel Teixeira Gomes, a diplomat, politician and humanist intellectual who served as the seventh president of Portugal between 1923 and 1925. Born in Portimão on 27 May 1860, he tirelessly promoted his hometown and the Algarve region right up until he died in October 1941 in exile in Algeria. Today, one can visit his birth house on Rua Júdice Biker, just off Zona Ribeirinha, which features displays highlighting Teixeira Gomes’ legacy.
By the 18th century, trade along the Arade River had slowed, but the influx of tourism, boasted by the fishing industry, kept Vila Nova de Portimão on the map. It was in 1902 when the Feu Hermanos Company opened the Fabrica de Conservas – La Rose canning factory by the riverside, which became one of the largest industrial units in the town and one of the main economic activities in the district, thus keeping many locals in work. The canning factory of Portimão exported canned fish throughout the country and overseas right up until its closure in the 1980s. The building was subsequently acquired by Portimão council in 1996, who transformed it into the Museum of Culture and Heritage in 2008. The original canning machinery remains in place as part of the museum display within the building. Outside you can still see the loading rails and fish baskets, which would carry sardines from the riverside into the factory for processing.
As visitors flocked to the lucrative town, its coastal suburb of Praia da Rocha began to boom as a popular tourist destination for health and wellness, given its wide sandy beaches, picturesque cliff tops and typical Algarvian climate. In 1894, Julião Lourenço Pinto wrote one of the first descriptions of Praia da Rocha, describing it as having a “unique and picturesque beach, as there is certainly no other in the country with such charm and such advantageous hydrographic conditions.”
By 1910, the Praia da Rocha Casino had opened, attracting the aristocracy from across the Algarve and neighbouring Andalusia. Soon, Praia da Rocha developed numerous townhouses, bistros and chalets to welcome the boom in tourism. It is believed that Praia da Rocha’s first hotel was Hotel Viola, which was built in the early 1900s. With a lack of hospitality to meet demand, the Hotel Bela-Vista was opened.
Originally constructed as the private home of businessman António Júdice de Magalhães Barros, who had links with the canning factory, the mansion was completed in 1918 and named Vila de Nossa Senhora das Dores. It was turned into a hotel by Magalhães Barros’ cousin, Henrique Bívar de Vasconcelo in 1936, and has become one of the most famous luxury hotels in Portimão.
As the city turned into a metropolis, Portimão couldn’t escape the Portuguese love for football, and so, on 14 August 1914, Portimonense Sporting Clube was founded. Currently, the city’s football team plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football; it celebrated its 110th anniversary this year.
Finally, on 5 December 1924, Portimão was elevated to city status to the jubilation of its population, who burst out in celebration with much pomp and pageantry. In the past 100 years, the newly formed city has steadily grown to accommodate the opening of new developments and enterprises.
During this summer, as part of the city’s year-long centenary celebration, an old tradition was brought back for one day only. Our older readers will probably remember eating sardines in the restaurants that were once dotted along the riverside. Seated on trestle tables, it was a typical sight to see the sardines unloaded from the fishing boats and delivered right to the restaurant’s barbecues. Even as a young child, I remember this very well. It was a tradition that lasted up until the city’s renovations in the 1990s which saw the sardine houses being moved further upriver, bringing an end to this quintessential tradition. However, for one day only in August, the fishing boats of Portimão unloaded sardines onto the shore just as they did 25 years ago to pay homage to a time many of us remember well and greatly miss.
While the city of Portimão flourishes with an eclectic mix of big brands, small businesses and two universities, many remember how this once-small hamlet has developed over the years into one of the Algarve’s most famous cities, steeped in many centuries of history.
And so, on this 100th anniversary, I’m sure you will all join me in raising a glass to wish a Happy Birthday, or should I say Feliz Aniversário to Portimão – a city that has stood the test of time and which over 60,000 people proudly call home. Viva Portimão!
You can learn more about the history of Portimão at the Museum of Portimão:
Rua D.Carlos I, 8500-607 Portimão
Entrance price: €3,00, Concessions: €1,50 (Free entrance on Sundays from 10.00am–2.00pm)
Details
- District: Faro
- Parishes: Portimão, Alvor and Mexilhoeira Grande
- Total area: 182.06 km2
- Population: 60,000 +
- Patron: Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
- City Day: 5th December
- Postcode: 8500
Fun fact
Portugal was once a hotbed for Viking raids. The first recorded Viking raid in Portugal was in 844 AD and reached parts of what are now Braga, Porto and Vila Real. Over 1,000 years ago, Viking longships were an imposing sight along Portimão’s Arade river, fighting to take over the lucrative seaport.
