Alverca

It is better known as Alverca, but the official name as the city and parish seat is Alverca do Ribatejo. In union with the parish of Sobralinho, it forms the Union of Parishes of Alverca do Ribatejo and Sobralinho . Belonging to the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira and the district of Lisbon, it has an area of 17.89 km² and 36,525 inhabitants (2021).

Alverca is one of the few cities in Portugal that is not the seat of a municipality and is more populous than Vila Franca de Xira.

It is called a "green city" (due to the high number of green spaces and tree-lined streets). It is a major crossing point in terms of rail (train line that connects Lisbon, passing through Alverca, to the North of the country) and in terms of roads (A1 motorway, Lisbon - Porto).

The most important points of interest in Alverca are the Air Museum , the Municipal Museum - Núcleo de Alverca , the Manueline pillory in Largo João Mantas (in the center of Alverca), the Church of São Pedro , the old Misericórdia and the Igreja dos Pastorinhos , which has the second largest carillon in Europe and the third largest in the world. Also noteworthy are the Álvaro Vidal Garden and the beautiful views over the Tagus and Lezíria.

Alverca is considered the birthplace of aviation in Portugal, as the military aerodrome and the General Aeronautical Material Workshops were located there (in 1919). It was in Alverca that the first Portuguese international airport operated, which served Lisbon until the opening of Portela Airport in 1940.

Brief History of Alverca

The oldest traces of human presence in Alverca date back to the Lower Paleolithic. Along the Tagus River, they wandered around here in search of hunting and fishing and collected everything that Nature made available to them.

During the Roman occupation, Alverca was the point of convergence of two roads, one followed the Vialonga valley and constituted a privileged access to Lisbon (Olisipo) and the other flanked the river, towards the current Póvoa de Santa Iria.

The toponym Alverca appears in the medieval period and is a word that derives from the Arabic «Albirca» or «Alborca» and which means swampy land , as a result of its location next to the Tagus River.

In the Middle Ages, Alverca was a town and county, characterized by the existence of estates, farms and couples within its limits. During the reign of D. Pedro I, in 1357, it was named County Seat.

Local agricultural production of cereals (wheat, barley, corn), orchards (orange), vineyards and olive trees, supplied the entire region for a long time, with wine and olive oil playing a prominent role.

In 1855 the Municipality of Alverca was extinguished, becoming part of that of Vila Franca de Xira. In 1856, Alverca was one of the first locations to be served by the railways , when D. Pedro V inaugurated the first railway line from Santa Apolónia to Carregado. Alverca, in 1886, had the first public lighting, using oil. In 1892, at Quinta da Figueira, a “Textile Factory” was opened, the first major manufacturing unit in Alverca, employing 74 workers.

Throughout the 20th century, the population grew slowly and economic activity continued to be based on agriculture, fishing, salt, cattle breeding, lime kilns and oil mills, taking advantage of its fertile plains and in water . In livestock farming, pigs, dairy cows, goats and sheep predominated, with their milk used to make cheese, famous throughout almost the entire country. Another wealth of great importance was, for a long time , the extraction of high quality salt in the salt pans next to the Tagus .

In 1918, the Aeronautical Material Park was created, which was installed between the railway and the Tagus, and in 1928 it was renamed Oficinas Gerais de Material Aeronáutico . It was after the Second World War that industries were massively installed in the area, and where a demographic explosion took place.

In 1961, the first section of the Northern Motorway (A1) was opened , with an access junction close to the urban center of Alverca, which greatly improved accessibility to Lisbon.

Alverca, in 1968, has 33 industries in the parish, becoming one of the great strongholds of the national economy due to its industries, namely OGMA and MAGUE (metal-mechanical industry), created in 1957.

Alverca was elevated to the category of City on August 9, 1990.