Mafra () is a city and a municipality in the district of Lisbon, on the west coast of Portugal, and part of the urban agglomeration of the Greater Lisbon subregion. The population in 2011 was 76,685, in an area of 291.66&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.

It is mostly known for the sumptuous Mafra National Palace inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in the baroque style, the Mafra National Palace also inspired Portuguese Nobel Prize laureate José Saramago to write his novel Baltasar and Blimunda (Memorial do Convento). Other points of interest around the municipality include the Tapada Nacional de Mafra (also part of the UNESCO site), an enclosed wildlife and game reserve, and Ericeira's World Surf Reserve, the second in the world.

History

thumb|235px|left|The massive façade of the Mafra Palace dwarfing the country-folk that lived in its shadow

The earliest archaeological remnants discovered in Mafra date to an early settlement of this region in the Neolithic period. In Seixosa, civil parish of Encarnação, in an area that was once a beach, there were archaeological remnants from the Paleolithic period, that indicate one of the oldest human presences in Europe. These dates back to the first and fourth century, including the Roman road connecting Sintra and Peniche, which crosses Mafra, intersecting the Cheleiros, Mafra, Ericeira, Paço de Ilhas and S. Domingos da Fanga da Fé (where portions of the road have been conserved). There are suggestions that many of the churches were once mosques, such as the Matriz Church of Cheleiros, the Church of Santo André and the sanctuary of Serra do Socorro. The origin of the local toponymy Mafra is unclear, but evolved from variations of Mafara (1189), Malfora (1201) and, later, Mafora (1288). Some suggest its origin came from the Turanian Great Ara, a female fertility cult that may have existed along the rim of the early village. Others suggest that it developed from the Arabic Mahfara, which means pit, which presumed that the location was implanted within a pit, a fact that was disproved by the Arabist David Lopes. The town is, in fact, located on a hill, with two ravines (Rio Gordo and Rio dos Couros) limiting the area around it.

In 1189/1190 the village was donated by King Sancho I to the Bishop of Silves, D. Nicolau, who received the first foral (charter) a year later.

During the Manueline era many of the national forals were re-issued, especially after the 11th and 15th century. Between 1513 and 1516, King Manuel I issued a new foral to Mafra, Ericeira and Cheleiros, and in 1519, conceded a foral to Enxara dos Cavaleiros, while confirming a foral to Gradil (then originally donated by Afonso IV of Portugal in 1327).Administratively, the municipality is divided into 11 freguesias:

  • Azueira e Sobral da Abelheira
  • Carvoeira
  • Encarnação
  • Enxara do Bispo, Gradil e Vila Franca do Rosário
  • Ericeira
  • Igreja Nova e Cheleiros
  • Mafra
  • Malveira e São Miguel de Alcainça
  • Milharado
  • Santo Isidoro
  • Venda do Pinheiro e Santo Estêvão das Galés

Twin towns — Sister cities

Mafra is twinned with:

  • Fréhel, Côtes-d'Armor, France
  • Leimen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde, Cape Verde

Economy

235px|thumb|right|The A8 Motorway near the civil parish of [[Malveira (Mafra)|Malveira]]

It is mainly rural with some tourist activity centred in the town Mafra and especially in the seaside town of Ericeira, which has become a key destination for national and international surfers. After the completion of the A8 motorway, linking the eastern part of the municipality to the centre of Lisbon, commuter population has increased substantially.

Transportation

The municipality of Mafra is served by a road network that includes national roadways (EN8, EN9, EN116 and EN247) and secondary municipal roadways, permitting access to the municipalities of Torres Vedras, Sintra, Loures, Sobral de Monte Agraço and Lisbon. In addition, the municipality is served by the A8 highway (Lisbon-Leiria), with connections to Venda do Pinheiro, Malveira and Enxara dos Cavaleiros, and the A21 highway (Ericeira–Mafra–Malveira), with connections to Ericeira, Mafra Oeste, Mafra Este, Malveira and Venda do Pinheiro, which have improved the movement of passengers and commerce, and consequently, the development of the region.

Public transport services are handled by the companies Barraqueiro Transportes, SA, Rodoviária de Lisboa and Isidoro Duarte with services throughout the municipality.

The rail network, served by the Linha do Oeste (Western Line), with stations in Mafra (Mafra-Gare) and Malveira, as well as flag-stops in Alcainça–Moinhos and Jeromelo, providing interurban and regional passenger and cargo services (the latter being primarily handled from the Malveira).

Culture

  • Traditional processions for the season of Lent

Notable people

100px|thumb|Beatriz Costa, 1934

  • Cristina Ferreira (in Malveira –) a Portuguese Influencer.
  • Ginés de Mafra (1493 in Mafra – 1546) a Portuguese or Spanish explorer who sailed to the Philippines in the 16th century.
  • Rosa Damasceno (1845 – 1904 in Mafra) a 19th-century Portuguese actress
  • Beatriz Costa (1907 in Mafra – 1996) an actress in the golden age of Portuguese cinema and an author.
  • Vítor Alves (1935 in Mafra – 2011) a Portuguese soldier and politician.
  • Pedro Espinha (born 1965 in Mafra) a retired football goalkeeper with over 397 club caps and 6 for Portugal
  • Alexandre Leitão (born 1979 in Mafra) a Portuguese footballer
  • Pedro Bonifácio (born 1985 in Mafra) a Portuguese footballer with over 330 club caps

<gallery mode=packed>

Image:Palácio_Nacional_de_Mafra2.jpg|Mafra National Palace

Image:Mafra May 2013-2.jpg|Mafra National Palace

Image:EriceiraSunset.jpg|Sunset at Ericeira

File:Mafra war memorial.JPG|War memorial in Mafra

</gallery>

References