History
King Afonso III of Portugal founded the town in 1253 in the name of Viana. In the 16th century, its port gained great importance as one of the main ports from which Portuguese explorers set sail, due to the discoveries. The most remarkable buildings in the town are from this era. Its traditional folklore is among the richest in the country.
Viana do Castelo municipality reportedly came under fire from Braga Administrative Court for banning bull-fighting since 2009 on humanitarian grounds. On August 19, 2012, the first bull-fight was staged in the town since the ban. It is believed that some 2500 bulls are killed in Portugal every year. A representative of the National Portuguese Municipalities Association (ANMP) was reported as saying that "freedom won" in Viana do Castelo. Sources : Care2 and theportugalnews.com
Read more about this topic: Viana Do Castelo Municipality
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“[Men say:] “Don’t you know that we are your natural protectors?” But what is a woman afraid of on a lonely road after dark? The bears and wolves are all gone; there is nothing to be afraid of now but our natural protectors.”
—Frances A. Griffin, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 19, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“All history attests that man has subjected woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could to debase and enslave her mind; and now he looks triumphantly on the ruin he has wrought, and say, the being he has thus deeply injured is his inferior.”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)