Fundão is a city and seat of a municipal council in Portugal, situated in the Beira Baixa region and in the Castelo Branco district. The Republic of Portugal (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a democratic republic located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, the westernmost country in continental Europe. ... For other uses, see Castelo Branco (disambiguation). ...

Fundão is an old town of some 9000 inhabitants, situated at the point where the slope of the Gardunha range meets the Cova da Beira plains, 500 metres above sea level.

Its Municipal Area has 701,65 square kilometres and 31 482 inhabitants. It is subdivided in 31 parishes.

Economy

The town is an important local centre of industry and services. Around it lies some of the most fertile land in the region, in a large valley (Cova da Beira), between the Gardunha and Estrela ranges, where the River Zêzere starts its way towards the Tagus. The most significant productions are cherries, peaches, olive oil, wine, wood pulp and vegetables. Some of the most important wolframite (most important mineral source of the metal tungsten) mines in the world are explored within its municipal limits. Other important mines extract lead and tin. High quality mineral water is bottled from several sources. There are parishes that have the name Estrela (Portuguese word for star in Brazil Estrela, Rio Grande do Sul Estrela dOeste and Estrela do Norte, both in São Paulo This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... View over Tejo River from São Jorge Castle in Lisbon (June 2002). ... A cherry is both a tree and its fleshy fruit, a type known as a drupe with a single hard pit enclosing the seed. ... Peaches may refer to: Peaches, a type of fruit Peaches, an Electroclash musician Peaches, a song by The Stranglers Peaches, a character in the motion picture Ken Park Peaches, a song by The Presidents of the United States of America Peaches, a musical artist. ... For Popeyes girlfriend, see Olive Oyl. ... A glass of white wine This article is about the beverage. ... Wood pulp is the most common material used to make paper. ... Vegetables on a market Vegetable is a nutritional and culinary term denoting any part of a plant that is commonly consumed by humans as food, but is not regarded as a culinary fruit, nut, herb, spice, or grain. ... Wolframite Categories: Mineral stubs | Minerals | Tungstate minerals ... General Name, Symbol, Number Tungsten, W, 74 Chemical series Transition metals Group, Period, Block 6 (VIB), 6, d Density, Hardness 19250 kg/m3, 7. ... For the lead in news writing, see news style. ... The word tin is often used to mean a can, even if it does not contain any tin metal. ... Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value. ...

History

The history of Fundão is intimately related to that of its originally Jewish, then New-Christian or Marrano population. Although the place already was mentioned in documents from the 13th century, the bulk of the population settled after the expulsions of the spanish jews (sephardic), by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Close to the border, and already home to significant jewish minorities the Cova da Beira region received many refugees. These came to settle in the place of Fundão, which their numbers swelled to that of a city. The influx of jewish artisans and merchants quickly transformed it into an important commercial and industrial centre. With the establishment of the portuguese Inquisition shortly thereafter, many jews and new-christians were arrested, tortured, executed or had their posessions expropriated. The commercial dinamism of the city was affected. The place was proclaimed a city in 1580, by its notables after declaring support for the attempt by Dom António, Prior do Crato, to preserve Portuguese independence against the ambitions of the King of Spain Felipe II (Felipe I of Portugal). The Municipal Council and autonomy were granted in 1747. Under Enlightenment of the late 18th century the Prime-Minister of Portugal, the Marquis of Pombal abolished the legal restraints on the new-christians and equiparated them to the old-christians. He tried to recreate the industrial preeminence of Fundão by founding the Royal Factories (today the City Hall). These efforts allowed a measure of revival to the wool industries of the city, and cloth was again exported to northern Europe. The city decayed again after its sack during the (defeated) Napoleonic French invasions of Portugal, and the following Civil War between supporters of Liberal Constitutionalist pretender D. Pedro II and his brother Conservative Absolutist D. Miguel for the throne. The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The term marrano refers to the Sephardim, Jews from the Iberian peninsula, who were forced to adopt the identity of Christians, either through coercion as consequence of the cruel persecution of Jews by the Spanish Inquisition, or for forms sake, and became Catholic converts. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from... Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the words for prepared and journey. ... A number of famous people in history were named Isabella: Queen Isabella of Angouleme (1187-1246), wife of John of England Queen Isabella of Castile (1451-1504), Queen regnant of Castile Queen Isabella of France (1292-1358), wife of Edward II of England Queen Isabella of Jerusalem (1170-1205), Queen... Events January 2 - Boabdil, the last Moorish King of Granada, surrenders his city to the army of Ferdinand and Isabella after a lengthy siege. ... The Inquisition was an office of the Roman Catholic Church charged with suppressing heresy. ... Events March 1 - Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ... Felipe II is the name of two Spanish kings who ruled also over Portugal: Philip II of Spain (the I of Portugal) and Philip II of Portugal (the III of Spain). ... Events January 31 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital April 9 - The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat was beheaded by axe on Tower Hill, London, for high treason; he was the last man to be executed in this way in Britain May 3 - Battle of Cape Finisterre... For the period in European history, The Age of Enlightenment For the corresponding movement in the European Jewish community, see Haskalah. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... The Marquis of Pombal, or Marquês de Pombal, (13 May 1699 - 15 May 1782) was a Portuguese politician and statesman, prime minister of king Joseph I of Portugal throughout his reign. ... Also City hall, the seat of municipal government. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... ... Wiktionary has a definition of: French Wikipedia en français French in its formal sense and used in its capitalized form, denotes: Something from or related to France. ... In politics, the term liberal refers to: an adherent of the ideology of liberalism or a state or quality of this ideology. ... Constitutionalist currently refers to United States citizens who advocate strict adherence to the intentions of the framers of the U.S. Constitution. ... A Pretender is a claimant to an abolished or already occupied throne. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... The term absolutism can mean: A belief in absolute truth moral absolutism, the belief that there is some absolute standard of right and wrong political absolutism, a political system where one person holds absolute power, also called apolytarchy from Gr. ...