Description Gondomar

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The name Gondomar has very primitive origins. Several findings reveal the roots of human experience in this area since prehistory. Among other versions, the name "Gondomar" is attributed to the Visigothic king Gundemaro or "Gundemarus" (more precisely of its genitive, "Gundemari"), consisting of the gothic words "gunthi" and "marhs" in 610 he would have founded a couto here.

The Douro River over 32 km - from Melres to Valbom - accompanies Gondomar, and this municipality possesses, through its relationship with the river, a unique Ethnographic Heritage, ancestral customs, which attest lamprey fishing and fishing still practiced in the parish of Lomba.

Gondomar is also a land of agricultural traditions, where, still, some farmers practice the so-called traditional agriculture.

With regard to Artistic Heritage, there are beautiful churches with gilded carvings and tiles, such as those of S. Cosme, Rio Tinto and Foz do Sousa, which we highlight. Also in the scope of tiles, the set of panels at the Rio Tinto Railway Station, by the painter João Alves de Sá, from the Viúva Lamego Factory, dated 1936, should be highlighted. These panels illustrate aspects of life Rio Tinto, at the time, as well as the legend that gave rise to the name Rio Tinto. It is worth mentioning the Gondomar jewelery, an activity that registers a very considerable percentage of national production. A reference for the Woodworking Industry, which also occupies a prominent place in the Municipality of Gondomar.

As for the Built Heritage, there are several secular manor houses in the Municipality, one of the most important being the manor of Casa de Montezelo, located in Fânzeres, which together with the beautiful magnolia tree, existing in the property's atrium, with three hundred years, is classified as Property of Public interest.

In the parish of Foz do Sousa, we can see the Bridge of Foz do Sousa, which serves the road circulation of Estrada Nacional No. 108. The design of this Bridge was designed by Engineer Edgar Cardoso. The smaller bridge has the same architectural features as the Arrábida Bridge, having served as a test for the construction of the latter.

Regarding the Natural Heritage, in addition to the Douro River, which offers landscapes of indescribable beauty, we can still find in Gondomar, pieces of nature, with oaks, chestnut trees, and pines, mainly along the course of the Sousa River and the Ferreira River. , which pass through the parishes of Foz do Sousa and Covelo, respectively, and the parishes of São Pedro da Cova and Foz do Sousa.

With regard to Industrial Heritage, mention should be made of the mining industry of São Pedro da Cova, which in a very recent past, employed in particular many São Pedrenses, a symbol of this industrial activity being the Cavalete de S. Vicente, "ex -libris "of that parish. Of the textile industries that worked for years in Rio Tinto, it is worth mentioning the Indústria Têxtil de Cabanas, and Mondex - Fábrica de Malhas do Mondego, Lda, whose company group came to have in its staff, in the seventies, around 2,200 employees.