Estoril

Estoril is a town and a former civil parish in the municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Cascais e Estoril. In 2011, the population of Estoril included 26,397 inhabitants, occupying an area of approximately 8.79km2.HistoryThe territory of Estoril has been inhabited for centuries, owing to its climatic conditions and favourable environment. Throughout the civil parish there are scattered remains of these early communities — Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs selected this area for its strategic place in Western Europe. There are remains of Roman villas in the parish that push back the history of the region to the first millennium, when the settlements of the coast were dependent on the fishing ports. From these settlements, Estoril inherited a rich cultural heritage, architecture, toponymy, habits and customs.In 1147, during the Reconquista, the region was brought under Christian control.Owing to its strategic place, the region was intimately linked to the Portuguese Age of Discovery and all the dynamic social and cultural upheavals that it originated.Its solid fortifications are a testament to the innumerable attacks by Spanish, French and English pirates and privateers. The many forts that dot the coastline are symbols of the resistance and battles that secured Portuguese independence and national interests.At the end of the monarchy, it was in the waters of Estoril that many sought refuge and escape. Aristocrats, nobles and others escaped through the ports along the Estoril coast to flee from the Republican forces.