Amadora is a town situated in the wide Lisboa metropolitan area, and it is considered to be the most populated town in the country.
The human occupation in this territory dates back to the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods, that found here fertile soils and water abundance. All over the region there are archaeological vestiges like the Roman “Villa” of Quinta da Bolacha, in Falagueira, or the big Roman Aqueduct dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
After the Roman and Moorish occupation the territory was occupied by farmers and nobles that exploited the fertile soils and built big farms.
The region suffered a huge development on the 20th century and was the place of residence chosen by thousands of people that worked in the Country’s capital, Lisboa, finding in Amadora good accesses either by car or train.
Amadora develops a lot in a short amount of time, and watches all its cultural, architectonic and social reality completely changing, adjusting from a rural community to a place where people from all over the country lived in, functioning as a residential complement of the urban Lisboa.
Amadora gets consequently a development of enterprises and industry and in the 2nd half of the 20th century throughout the region problematic social quarters and high buildings not too attractive start to appear.
Nevertheless, the architectural heritage of Amadora has several interesting manor houses, like the “Casa do Infantado” from the 18th century, or the “Casa Roque Gameiro” built between 1898 and 1901 as a residence of this Portuguese artist that is a perfect example of the typical “Portuguese House”, inspired in the popular architecture from different regions, housing nowadays an interesting museum.
There are other interesting monuments in the region, such as the Nossa Senhora da Lapa Chapel (18th century) in Falagueira, or part of the wide “Águas Livres” Aqueduct (18th century), subdivided in several ramifications, the “Gargantada” aqueduct built in 1794, as well as several cultural facilities like the Municipal Movie Theatre D. João V, the Comics and Image National Centre (Centro Nacional de Banda Desenhada e Imagem), the Fábrica da Cultural, the Municipal Galery Artur Bual ot the Contemporary Art Centre.
There are also several interesting green areas and parks, in order to fight the crescent urban area, perfect for sport activities and other leisure initiatives, like the Central Park in Amadora, the Ribeira da Falagueira Adventure Park, the Lido’s Magical Island, the Fantasy Park, the Delfim Guimarães Park or the Dr. Armando Romão Urban Park.
