Description Vidigueira

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Vidigueira is a Portuguese village belonging to the District of Beja, region of Alentejo and sub-region of Baixo Alentejo, with about 2 750 inhabitants.

It is the seat of a municipality with an area of ??316.61 km² and 5 932 inhabitants (2011), subdivided into 4 parishes. The municipality is limited to the north by the municipality of Portel, to the east by Moura, to the southeast by Serpa, to the south by Beja and to the west by Cuba.

The existence of this settlement is documented only from the century. XIII. However, there are records of human occupation of the region since prehistory. In addition to the megalithic heritage, the next Roman villas in São Cucufate and Monte da Cegonha deserve mention.

Without great strategic importance in the defense of the territory, the development of this village was essentially agricultural. This fact is easily proven by the production of wine, since Vidigueira is also the name of a Region of Controlled Origin. Its wine fame already existed in the century. XV and in the century. XIX was the 7th producing region.

The name of Vidigueira is also linked to the historical figure of Vasco da Gama, to whom D. Manuel I (1495-1521) granted the title of Count of Vidigueira, in 1519. Casa da Vidigueira, founded then, remained in the same family until to our century. At the clock tower in the village a bell strikes the hour with the Cross of Christ and the engraved weapons of the ranges, and the date inscription: 1520.

Another memory of Vasco da Gama is evoked, about 2 km from Vidigueira. In the main chapel of the church of the convent of Nossa Senhora das Relíquias (already much altered in its original lines) the remains of the discoverer of the sea route to India were deposited when they came from Cochin in 1539, until they were transferred to the Jerónimos Monastery in 1898.