Send Gift Baskets to Loures, Portugal

Archaeological findings along the Loures River suggest early human settlement dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period. The Cave of Pego do Diabo, and the Cave of Salemas have evidence of ancient settlements. For example, there are several burial chambers in the Anta de Carcavelos, and the Anta do Alto da Toupeira. Loures was a Roman settlement during the 1st millennium and then became a church site after some time. The region is also notable for the presence of many hill forts. Under Roman occupation, many settlers forsook these hills and occupied the fertile lowlands. The Romans occupied the region (the territory) before the Visigoths began colonizing the area. The Moors started moving into the region after around 800 A.D.

Loures is a parish that was first mentioned in 1118 and repeated in 1191, along with Unhose and Sacavém. This region has always been primarily agricultural, with small export commerce, including lettuce (a vegetable) cultivation. The first written work was published in 1170 by a man named Afonso Henriques. He wrote a document that granted privileges and benefits to the Moors living on the outskirts of Lisbon, who were classified as serfs (Dallas). At that time, they lived in fields to the north of Lisbon. In 1178, King Sancho I of Portugal discovered that the Moors in Lisbon were allied to other groups and came to the territory with a Templar force to confront those people. 

Following the defeat of the Moors, the King transferred the region to Knights Templar, who established a sect of warrior monks. The extinction of Templars in 1311 opened the way for the Pope’s expropriation of lands and property. King Denis of Portugal proposed the creation of a new order in Portugal, the Order of Christ, to take over all Templar property and assets. Loures eventually fell into Templar hands, who constructed a new Church (over the 4th-century temple) alongside the cemetery there.