Óbidos Portugal!

www.easyace.net Óbidos Portugal May 2009 Nice place to visit in Portugal The name "Óbidos" probably derives from the Latin term oppidum, meaning "citadel", or "fortified city". Roman occupation of the area has been recently confirmed by archaeological excavations, which revealed the existence of a Roman city very close to the hill where the village is located. This Roman settlement is most certainly the mysterious Eburobrittium, cited by Pliny the Elder as situated between Collipo (near present-day Leiria) and Olisipo (Lisbon). Until now the surveys have revealed the rests of the forum, baths and other buildings. After the fall of Roman domination, the region must have come under the influence of the Visigoths, although material evidence is lacking. The Roman town of Eburobrittium was probably abandoned in the 5th century for the more secure hill where Óbidos is located. Sometime after 713 the Moors established a fortification on top of the hill. A Christian community of Mozarabs lived in the Moncharro neighbourhood. The area was taken from the Moors by the first King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, in 1148. Tradition states that one knight, Gonçalo Mendes da Maia, was responsible for the successful storming of the Moorish castle. The retaking of Óbidos meant the end of the Reconquista of the Estremadura region, after the conquests of Santarém, Lisbon and Torres Vedras. The village received its first foral (charter) in 1195, under the reign of Sancho I. In 1210, King ...



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