Sacavém

Sacavém is a Portuguese village in the municipality of Loures located a few kilometers northeast of Lisbon, with an area of 4.08 km² and 18 469 inhabitants. The origin of its name should be linked to the Arabic word sagahi or sagabi, which means “close to”, due to its proximity to Lisbon.

In 2013, as part of a national administrative reform, it became part of a new parish called União das Freguesias de Sacavém and Prior Velho, of which it is the headquarters.

In the recent past, it was an industrial center, where the Sacavém Crockery Factory stood out, inaugurated in 1856, and which represented an important influence on the human and geographic landscape of the parish. In 1930, almost the entire population of Sacavém worked at the factory. After its closure, and as a tribute to the workers and their production, the Sacavém Ceramics Museum was born, surrounded by the modern housing development: Urbanização Real Forte, which has expanded in various phases.

The city's historic core was the subject of a classification proposal and also of a municipal safeguard plan, which aimed at its urban requalification. Observe the facades of the houses and linger on the numerous tiles scattered throughout the city, unmistakable marks of the importance and the way in which the Ceramics Factory shaped this land and its people.

Points of interest

• Sacavém Ceramics Museum - The Sacavém Ceramics Museum, located in the town that gave it its name, was born in honor and on the same site as the former Sacavém Ceramics Factory, now deactivated, where it is possible to recover the memory of the old industrial unit, through the remaining collection of the old factory.
• Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Saúde and Santo André - The hermitage dates back to 1599. Its primitive invocation was Santo André. It was a hospital for leprosy patients, and it also served as an inn for pilgrims. The move to Nossa Senhora da Saúde is linked to the plague that devastated Lisbon in 1599.Ruined by the 1755 earthquake, it was rebuilt in 1756 and restored in 1872.
• Parish Church of Santa Maria de Sacavém - This temple belonged to the Convent with the same name, and its construction began in 1596.
• Convent of Nossa Senhora dos Mártires and da Conceição - The construction of the convent dates back to the 16th century, built by D. Afonso Henriques after the conquest of Lisbon from the Moors. The monastery housed the nuns of the 1st rule of Santa Clara until 1877, when it was handed over to the Ministry of War.
• Quinta de São José - Foreira Quinta da Casa de Bragança, from the 17th century, the palace probably dates from the end of the 17th century. In the 19th century, it belonged to the Baron of Pomarinho and, in 1940, it was acquired by the engineer José Manuel Leitão. In 1896 it was acquired by the Municipality of Loures, which turned it into a leisure and leisure area.
• Monte Sintra Stronghold/Forte de Sacavém - Small isolated fort, from the 19th/20th century, intended to reinforce the garrisons of one of the defensive lines of the city of Lisbon. Its natural moat was the river Trancão. From here you can admire the magnificent landscape over Sacavém. At the moment, the IHRU – Information System for Architectural Heritage works here.