The human presence in Aveiro dates back at least to the period of recent prehistory, evident in the mamoas and dolmens existing throughout the region.
Always linked to economic activities, Aveiro had in salt production and naval trade the basis of its growth and development as a city. Valuable as a trading good, salt, would already be explored in Roman times and continued to be so later.
The building of a wallcloth around the urban core in the early fifteenth century mirrors the prestige and growth that Aveiro would have achieved. Later, religious and welfare institutions would be installed, which for centuries helped in urban development and the struggle against silting up.
The predominance of architecture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries reflects well this phase, also revealing the desire to follow the taste of the time, evident in the decoration with Art Nova notes in some of the buildings, and repeated in other places in the region, or in the debugged lines of an Art Deco and a Modernism driven by the Estado Novo.
Along with a marked progress, the tradition remains in some ethnographic experiences, as well as in the architecture of the rural environment of the region, where several strands of traditional Portuguese construction materialized in the gandaresa house are founded. Aveiro also preserves in Alboi and the Beira Mar neighborhood tiled ground houses, living testimonies of old marnotos (or salineiros) and faithful fishermen devout of S. Gonçalinho and S. Roque.
The preponderance of the ceramic industry in the region is not only a reflection of technological advances, but rather a result of a long productive tradition favored by the geological constitution of the region and dating back, at least to the late Roman/medieval period as witnessed by the ceramic axis ovens.
Today it is a region in rapid economic growth, which manages to combine the testimonies of the past with the current demands, in a path to sustainable development that will guarantee the generational and city future.
In Aveiro we find a perfect symbiosis between man and nature, between tradition and modernity, which make it one of the most important urban centers in the country, recognized as one of the best cities to live, visit or do business in the country.
In tourism, in addition to tours aboard the typical Moliceiros boats in the Ria, you can also take advantage of the beaches to unrelax or practice water sports.
Currently with a population of about 81,000 inhabitants, the municipality of Aveiro has recorded a significant increase in the same, when compared to other regions of the country. employment and, consequently, a purchasing power higher than the national average makes this a municipality appreciated by many.
With a privileged location, between mountains and the sea, Aveiro also offers excellent green spaces for sports or leisure. The renovation of education and health infrastructures has taken on a strategic character, and is another differentiating factor of the city.
At the level of accesses, Aveiro is well served, with the passage of several highways, road service, rail (being one of the central points of the Northern Line) and also a port (Port of Aveiro).
The gastronomy of Aveiro is known throughout the country through the typical soft eggs. At the table, you can count on dishes with eels, mussels, oysters, seaweed, traditional Portuguese cured cod, PDO Marine meat, accompanied by wines and sparkling wines from the Demarcated Region of Bairrada. Finish your meal with an Aveiro liqueur or a Bairrada brandy.
Source: Aveiro City Hall