Santarém is a city and municipality located in the district of Santarém in Portugal.

The mayor is Ricardo Gonçalves (PSD). The municipal holiday is March 19, the day of Saint Joseph (São José). The city is on the Portuguese Way variant of the Way of Saint James.

Geography

The city of Santarém stands is situated on a plateau, located on the right bank of the Tagus River 65 kilometres (40 mi) northeast from Lisbon. This city, the urbanized portion, includes the former-parishes of Marvila, São Nicolau, São Salvador and Várzea, united in the green paper on administrative reform.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 18 civil parishes (freguesias):

• Abitureiras
• Abrã
• Achete, Azoia de Baixo e Póvoa de Santarém
• Alcanede
• Alcanhões
• Almoster
• Amiais de Baixo
• Arneiro das Milhariças
• Azoia de Cima e Tremês
• Casével e Vaqueiros
• Gançaria
• Moçarria
• Pernes
• Póvoa da Isenta
• Romeira e Várzea
• Santarém (Marvila), Santa Iria da Ribeira de Santarém, Santarém (São Salvador) e Santarém (São Nicolau)
• São Vicente do Paul e Vale de Figueira
• Vale de Santarém

Climate

Santarém has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid, rainy winters with temperatures averaging 15 to 16 °C (59 to 61 °F) during the day and 6 to 7 °C (43 to 45 °F) at night and hot, dry summers with temperatures ranging between 29 to 31 °C (84 to 88 °F) during the day and 15 to 16 °C (59 to 61 °F) at night.

Architecture

Santarém city centre has several monuments, including the largest and most varied ensemble of gothic churches in Portugal. These include fine examples of transitional Romanesque–Gothic, mendicant (plain style derived from the mendicant orders) and late (flamboyant) Gothic. In addition, the city has nice examples of Manueline, Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque architecture.

• Old Castle of Santarém (Porta do Sol): Located on a high slope over the Tagus river and the surrounding landscape, the site of the old castle of Santarém is now a park. Part of the walls and towers of the castle are still preserved.
• Church of Saint John of Alporão (Igreja de São João de Alporão): Built between the 12th and the 13th centuries by the Knights Hospitallers, this church is an example of transitional architecture, with a Romanesque main portal and an early Gothic main chapel and vaulting. The arches of the ambulatory of the main chapel show Moorish (Mudéjar) influences. The church now houses a small Archaeological Museum. Its most important piece is the flamboyant Gothic tomb of Duarte de Meneses who disappeared in a battle in North Africa in 1465. His tomb is empty.
• Cabaças Tower (Torre das Cabaças): Ancient defensive tower of the mediaeval wall of the city. Houses the Time Museum with an exhibition about the measurement of time through the ages.
• Fountain of the Fig Trees (Fonte das Figueiras): Rare example of a 14th-century fountain in Portugal, decorated with merlons and coats-of-arms of Portugal and King Dinis I.
• Convent of Saint Claire (Convento de Santa Clara): 13th-century convent. Good example of Portuguese mendicant Gothic style. It also included a now lost altarpiece by the Mannerist artist Diogo de Contreiras.
• Convent of Saint Francis (Convento de São Francisco): Another 13th-century convent in medicant style. Has a nice Gothic cloister. King Ferdinand I was buried here.
• Church of St. Stephen – Church of the Holy Miracle (Igreja do Santíssimo Milagre) Home to the 13th-century Eucharistic Miracle of Santarém, a popular destination among Catholics worldwide.
• Church of the Grace (Igreja da Graça): Built between the 14th and 15th centuries in a mix of mendicant and flamboyant Gothic styles. Has a main portal and rose window (believed to be unique in the world, carved out of a single stone) that shows the influence of the Monastery of Batalha. The first governor of Ceuta Pedro de Meneses (died 1437) and his wife are buried here in a magnificent Gothic tomb with their recumbent figures holding each other’s hands. Pedro Álvares Cabral, discoverer of Brazil, and his wife are buried under a simple slab near the main chapel. The church was extensively renovated in the 1950s, eliminating all traces of development of the church later than 1500, so the current condition of the church provides a unique insight into a late 15th century church.
• Church of Marvila (Igreja de Marvila): This 16th-century church has a nice portal and main chapel in Manueline style. The nave and pulpit are in early Renaissance style. The interior walls are covered with 17th-century-multicoloured tiles with geometric patterns. It has one of the most outstanding tile-based interior decorations in Portugal.
• Cathedral of Santarém (Sé-Catedral): Built in the 17th century in mannerist style as the Jesuit church of the city, it became the Seminary church after the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal in the mid-18th century. The interior decoration is very rich, with altarpieces from various periods and styles (Mannerist and Baroque) and a ceiling with an illusionist painting. Since the 1970s it is the Cathedral of Santarém. The site of the church and seminary was previously occupied by the medieval royal palace of Santarém.