Historic Ericeira in Portugal

by Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Title

Historic Ericeira in Portugal

Artist

Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

Ericeira is a civil parish and seaside resort/fishing community on the western coast of Portugal, in the municipality of Mafra, about 35 kilometres northwest of the capital, Lisbon.The population in 2011 was 10,260, in an area of 12.05 km.Ericeira is regarded by some as being Europe's Surf Mecca, due to the exceptional coastline conditions for the practice of Surf. It is home for Ericeira's World Surfing Reserve, the first in Europe and the second in the world. Ericeira was a popular summer retreat for many of Lisbon's families in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, it is a popular destination for local and visiting tourists, as well as surfers from around the world owing to the forty beaches with good conditions in the area.
The region's taxonomic name has a convoluted history. Ericeira is believed to have originated from Ouriceira, itself a derivative of Ourico, referring to the name for sea urchins (used in the parish's coat-of-arms). One legend suggested that Ericeira was the land of ouricos, owing to what was assumed to be an abundance of sea-urchins along the beaches. However, recent investigations, archived in the Museum of the Misericordia, confirm that the animal mentioned was not an "ourico", but an "ourico-caixeiro" (hedgehog), a species associated with the Phoenician goddess Astarte. The ancient settlement presumably dates from the passage and colonization of the Phoenicians.
Ericeira was a popular summer retreat for many of Lisbon's families in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, it is a popular destination for local and visiting tourists, as well as surfers from around the world owing to the forty beaches with good conditions in the area.
FEATURED 11/23/16 in "New FAA Uploads"
FEATURED 1/8/17 in "Urban Images"
FEATURED 2/14/24 in "No Place Like Home"

Uploaded

October 19th, 2016

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