Early History
Cale was the name of an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal.
Some historians have argued that Greeks were the first to settle Cale and that the name derives from the Greek word Καλλις kallis, 'beautiful', referring to the beauty of the Douro valley. Others have hypothesized that the word Cale came from the Latin word for 'warm' (Portus Cale thus meaning Warm Port). The mainstream explanation for the name, however, is that it is an ethnonym derived from the Castro people that lived in the area - known as the Callaeci or Gallaeci or Gallaecia, a people who occupied the north west of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1864 Hector Boece said the name Portugal derived from Porto Gatelli, the name Gatelo gave to Braga when he settled there, while others say he gave that name to Porto. The names "Callaici" and "Cale" are the origin of today's Gaia, Galicia, and the "Gal" in "Portugal". The meaning of Cale or "Calle" is, however, not fully understood.
Read more about this topic: Portus Cale
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