Batalha (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɐˈtaʎɐ] ) is a town and a municipality in historical Beira Litoral province, and Leiria district in the Centro of Portugal. The town's name means "battle". The municipality population in 2011 was 15,805,[1] in an area of 103.42 km2 (39.93 sq mi).[2] The town proper has around 8,548 inhabitants in an area of 28.42 km2 (10.97 sq mi).[3] The municipality is limited to the North and West by the municipality of Leiria, to the East by Ourém, to the Southeast by Alcanena and to the Southwest by Porto de Mós.
The town was founded by King D. João I of Portugal, jointly with the Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória na Batalha (a World Heritage Site), to pay homage to the Portuguese victory at the Battle of Aljubarrota (August 14, 1385) that put an end to the 1383–1385 Crisis.
Although there are countless traces throughout the region that allude to a human occupation since prehistoric times, passing through the Roman period and, successively, throughout history (it is believed that the Roman settlement of Collipo, originally of the Turduli people, established in São Sebastião do Freixo), Vila da Batalha owes its origin to the construction of the Santa Maria da Vitória Monastery. In fact, Batalha was born with the Avis Dynasty and the consolidation of Independence in 1385.[4]
The administrative figure of the parishes is only drawn and defined throughout the second half of the 19th century, with Liberalism, so that on September 14, 1512, when the Prior-Major of Santa Cruz de Coimbra, D. Pedro Vaz Gavião, creates the parish of Batalha, it is evidently the seat that, however, delimits and is the first form of future civil parish.[4]
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Administratively, the municipality is divided into 4 civil parishes (freguesias):[5]
Batalha is twinned with:
Trujillo, Spain (since 1992)[6]
Joinville-le-Pont, France (since 2008)[7]