Barcelos

history

]] Barcelos (pron. ) is a municipality located in the district of Braga, in the north of Portugal.

It has a total population of 123,831 and an area of 378.9 km². The city itself has a population of 20,625.»UMA POPULAÇÃO QUE SE URBANIZA, Uma avaliação recente - Cidades, 2004 Nuno Pires Soares, Instituto Geográfico Português (Geographic Institute of Portugal) With 89 parishes, it is the municipality with the highest number of parishes in the country.

The municipal holiday is May 3.

Parishes

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General info

Barcelos is one of the growing municipalities in the country, especially in Minho metropolitan area and is well known by its textile and adobe industries.

History

Originally a Roman settlement, it expanded and became the seat of the First Duke of Bragança in the 15th century. The palace of the Dukes of Bragança was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755 and is now an open-air museum.

The town's famous symbol is a rooster, in Portuguese called o galo de Barcelos. The legend says that a rich man made a big party. When the party was over, the rich man noticed that his sterling cutlery was stolen by a guest. He accused a pilgrim and let him go to court. He protested his innocence, but the judge didn't believe him. The judge was about to eat a roasted cock and the pilgrim said: If I am innocent, this cock will crow three times. When the pilgrim was about to be hanged the cock crowed. The judge release the pilgrim. The story ends a few years later when the pilgrim returned and made a statue over the event.

Sport

Barcelos is home to Gil Vicente FC (football (soccer)) and Óquei Clube de Barcelos (rink hockey).

Twin Cities

References

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