Vila Nova de Gaia Municipal flag Municipal coat of arms
Location
- Country	Portugal
- Region	Norte
- Subregion	Grande Porto
- District or A. The administrative divisions of Portugal are undergoing changes Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Grande Porto or Greater Porto is a Portuguese NUTS3 subregion integrating the NUTS2 region of Norte, in Portugal. R.	Porto
Mayor	Luís Filipe Menezes
- Party	PSD
Area	168. The District of Porto (sometimes Oporto in English is located on the north west coast of Portugal Luís Filipe de Menezes Lopes (born Ovar, November 2, 1953) is a Portuguese Politician. Political parties in Portugal lists political parties in Portugal. History The Social Democratic Party was born on May 6, 1974, when Francisco Sá Carneiro, 7 km²
Population
- Total	300,868
- Density	1,783/km²
No. of parishes	24
Coordinates	41º08'N 8º37'W
Municipal holiday	John the Baptist 24 June
Website: http://www.cm-gaia.pt

Vila Nova de Gaia, or simply Gaia, (pron. IPA: ['vilɐ 'nɔvɐ dɨ 'gaiɐ]) is a city in Portugal. "Freguesia" ( pron fɾɛgɨ'ziɐ is the Portuguese term for Civil parish, a secondary Local administrative unit in Portugal Vila Nova de Gaia, or simply Gaia, ( pron 'vilɐ 'nɔvɐ dɨ 'gajɐ is a city in Portugal. Saint John the Baptist ( heb. Jochanan ben Sacharja, arab. يحيى Yaḥyā or يوحنا Yūḥanna, aram. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. It is located in the Porto district, south of the city of Porto on the other side(south) of the river Douro. The District of Porto (sometimes Oporto in English is located on the north west coast of Portugal The Douro or Duero ( Latin: Durius, Spanish: Duero, Portuguese: Douro, pron. The city proper has a population of 178,255^[1] and the municipality contains 24 parishes with a total population of 288,749 inhabitants, being the most populated municipality in Norte region. Gaia together with Porto and other 12 municipalities makes up the commonly designated Porto Metropolitan Area. The Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto is a metropolitan area in coastal northern Portugal which covers 14 municipalities including the City of Porto, making

It is also well known for its "lodges" (locally known as "caves") where the world famous Port wine is stored and aged. Port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto, Oporto, Porto, and often simply Port) is a Portuguese, Fortified The lodges have become a major tourist attraction.

Coat of Arms and Flag

The coat of arms consists of a grey crest with two golden-yellow bunches of grapes on the bottom with a black castle over the water, and with a person blowing the horn. A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages.

The flag is colored dark yellow to black in four each.

History of the municipality

Vila Nova de Gaia already existed under the Roman Empire as the city of Cale. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial It developed most likely from a preexistent Celtic Castro, or Neolithic settlement. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts A hill fort is a fortified refuge or defended settlement The origin of the name Cale (or Gale, since in Classical Latin there was not always a clear distinction between the letters "g" and "c") is likely Celtic, from the root "Gall-" with which Celts referred to themselves, similarly to Galicia, Gaul or Galway. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. Galicia (occasionally Galiza) is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Galway (Gaillimh is the only city in the province of Connacht in Ireland. The river itself has a presumably Celtic name, Douro (Durus in Latin) maybe after Celtic "dwr", water. The Douro or Duero ( Latin: Durius, Spanish: Duero, Portuguese: Douro, pron. In Roman times the bulk of the population probably lived south of the river Douro, and on the north side, there was a smaller settlement around the deep water port which now is the Ribeira neighbourhood of Porto. The name of Porto, in high medieval times Portus Cale, thus stood for the harbour ("portus" in Latin) of the city of Cale. Portus Cale ( Latin for Port of Cale) was the old name of an ancient town and port in current day Portugal. With the important trade of the river Douro, which is easily navigable up to the Régua deep inland, the Porto part of the city came to overgrow Cale, and became the most important part of town, where the Bisphoric and the merchants were established. Peso da Régua ( pron 'pezu dɐ 'ʁɛgwɐ commonly known as Régua, is a city and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 94

With the moorish invasions in the eighth century A.D., the de facto frontier between the Islamic state and the Christian one came to rest for a considerable period of time on the river Douro, around the year 1000. The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim (and earlier non-Muslim people of Berber and Arab descent The 8th century is the period from 701 to 800 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. With the constant raids and counter-raids, the town of Cale, or Gaia, was deserted and most of its inhabitants took refuge in Porto.

After the conquest and pacification of the southern side of the Douro river after 1035, with the exodus or expulsion of the Muslim populations, leaving behind semi-abandoned fertile lands, colonists from the north settled in exchange for better feudal contracts with the newly appointed lords. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed These migrants refounded the old city of Cale or Gaia under the name of Vila Nova de Gaia (new town of Gaia) around the old castle and ruins of "old Gaia". A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages.

The name of the double city of Oporto and Gaia was frequently referred to in contemporary documents as "villa de Portucale", and the county of the Kingdom of Leon which was centered around it was named Portucalense. Portucale can mean different things Portus Cale, old Roman name of an ancient town and port in current day Portugal in the area of today's Grande Porto (north of Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. This county was eventually expanded and after gaining its independence, became the Kingdom of Portugal. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.

In June 30, 1989, Pedroso became a village On July 12, 2004, Crestuma, Lever, Olival, Perosinho, Sandim, São Félix da Marinha and Serzedo became villages too. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "

View of Gaia from Porto

Parishes

Vila Nova de Gaia as seen from the other side of the Douro river, from the Torre dos Clérigos in central Porto, in July, 2005.

Apartment buildings in the parish of Mafamude

There are 24 parishes (freguesias) in Vila Nova de Gaia:

The most populous is Mafamude and the least is Sermonde, while the largest by area is Pedroso and the smallest is São Pedro da Afurada. In terms of populational density, the most dense is Mafamude and the least dense is Sandim.

Gallery

Vila Nova de Gaia city

References

1. ^ UMA POPULAÇÃO QUE SE URBANIZA, Uma avaliação recente - Cidades, 2004 Nuno Pires Soares, Instituto Geográfico Português (Geographic Institute of Portugal)

External links

• Municipality official website
• Photos from Vila Nova de Gaia
• Gaia Extra - Local news site about Vila Nova de Gaia