Mangualde

Mangualde (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐ̃ˈɡwaɫd(ɨ)]) is a municipality in the subregion of Dão-Lafões (historical Beira Interior), central region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,880, in an area of 219.26 km².

History

The region of Mangualde has been a crossroads of many peoples: Viriathus's warriors, transhumance shepards, Romans, Moors and Christian conquerors, including soldiers from Castile or France, or even pilgrims. Mangualde was an important outpost in the textile trade from Covilhã, Seia and Gouveia. Its location, on the frontier with the Serra da Estrela and marginalized by its geography to north, was nonetheless a channel of pre-historic cultures associated with the dolmens that are found through the region. The mount of Nossa Senhora do Castelo, is one such example of the pre-Romanic castros that were used by the early settlers, then reappropriated by the Roman soldiers as forts.

The Romans, attracted by the riches of the Iberian Peninsula (primarily minerals), began to progressively occupy the region until the 5th century, when barbarians invaded the peninsula. Romanization of these lands resulted in a diffusion and assimilation of cultural structures, political hierarchies, social institutions, the economy and religious services. Mangualde was one of the principal access-ways in Lusitânia, connecting Emerita Augusta (Mérida) to Bracara Augusta (Braga). Along the roadway, millennium or road markers were discovered in Abrunhosa-a-Velha, noting the repairs completed to the road under emperors Hadrian and Numerian. Similarly, a second via crossed the Alcafache bridge (a Roman-built structure) towards Espinho, while another crossed the rivers from the north.

Mangualde (footballer)

Ricardo Jorge Marques Duarte (born 14 February 1982 in Mangualde, Viseu District), known as Mangualde, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Lusitano Futebol Clube as a right back.

Football career

After an unsuccessful stint in Sporting Clube de Portugal's youth academy (never going past the reserves after turning a senior), Mangualde represented Clube Oriental de Lisboa. In January 2006 he signed for Primeira Liga club F.C. Paços de Ferreira, where would be regularly used throughout his two 1/2 seasons stint; he appeared 23 times, all as a starter, as the northern team finished sixth in the 2006–07 campaign and qualified to the UEFA Cup for the first time in its history.

In the 2008 summer Mangualde joined S.C. Freamunde in the second division, moving to Cyprus with Doxa Katokopias F.C. after just one year.

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Mangualde (parish)

Mangualde is a former civil parish in the municipality of Mangualde, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Mangualde, Mesquitela e Cunha Alta.

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