Angra do Heroísmo
Angra do Heroísmo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃ɡɾɐ du eɾuˈiʒmu]), generally known as Angra, is a municipality and city on the island of Terceira in the Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 35,402, in an area of 239.00 km². It forms the southern half of Terceira, with the north belonging to Praia da Vitória. Together with Ponta Delgada on São Miguel and Horta on Faial, Angra is one of the three regional capitals of the Azores. Each capital is responsible for one of the three branches of government; Angra is the location of the Azorean Supreme Court. It is also the location of the Azorean bishop.
The town was established in the latter half of the 15th century. Angra served as a place of exile for Almeida Garrett during the Napoleonic Wars. It also served as a refuge for Queen Maria II of Portugal from 1830 to 1833. It was classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1983.
Name
Angra is the Portuguese word for "inlet", "cove", or "bay". The epithet do Heroísmo ("of Heroïsm", "the Heroïc") was granted to the city by Maria II to commemorate its citizens' successful defense of the island against a Miguelist assault in 1829.
Angra do Heroísmo (district)
The District of Angra do Heroísmo (after 6 October 1898 the Autonomous District of Angra do Heroísmo), was a district of the Ilhas Adjacentes (the former collective name for the Azores and Madeira), consisting of the dependent central islands of the Azores. The district of Angra, not to be confused with the modern municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, existed until 1976 when it was abolished in the favor of the autonomy charter of the 1975 Portuguese Constitution.
History
It was created in 1835, with its seat in the city of Angra do Heroísmo, and included the islands of Terceira, São Jorge and Graciosa. Like its counterparts in Horta and Ponta Delgada, it was extinguished on 22 August 1975, with the creation of the Junta Regional of the Azores (which superseded the competencies of those institutions).
With constitutional autonomy of the Azores, the districts were definitively extinguished. The constitution of the Portuguese Republic of 1976 installed a politico-administrative statute that invested power in a regional government.
