Avintes

Avintes
Parish
The Biological Park of Vila Nova de Gaia, in Avintes
Avintes
Coordinates: 41°06′25″N 8°33′04″W / 41.107°N 8.551°W / 41.107; -8.551Coordinates: 41°06′25″N 8°33′04″W / 41.107°N 8.551°W / 41.107; -8.551
Country	Portugal
Region	Norte
Subregion	Grande Porto
Metropolitan area	Porto
District	Porto
Municipality	Vila Nova de Gaia
Area
• Total	8.82 km2 (3.41 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	11,497
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
Postal code	4430
Area code	227
Patron	São Pedro
Website	http://www.avintes.net

Avintes is a Portuguese civil parish in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia. The population in 2011 was 11,497, in an area of 8.82 km².

Some origins of the parish, date back to the early settlement during the Megalithic cultures of the Iberian peninsula; there are references to the area of Arcas, an ancient necropole, designated for its dolmens that might have been constructed in this region.Arcas and Arcaínhas were synonymous with Dolmen and Castro culture populations. Yet, other historians suggest this name was actually a corruption of the term Areias referring to "sand". Regardless, few direct links specify the association with Neolithic cultures and settlement, although most assume that region was settled by Castro builders, then later invaders from Phoenicia, Greece and Carthage. Roman occupation of the peninsula occurred from the second century B.C., forcing-out many of the indigenous cultures and imposing a provincial system in which the region of Avintes was part of the much larger Scallabitanus. There, too, is little to substantiate Roman occupation of this area. Even the celebrated "Roman bridge" over the Febros is likely medieval in construction.

After successive politico-administrative reorganizations (first by the Suebi, then the Visigoths), the region was taken by Arab forces from the south, following the Battle of Guadalete, in 714. The Reconquista that retook the lands south of the Douro, brought the region under the domain of the Galician province of Coimbra temporarily, under the regency of Count Vimara Peres, who organized the defense of the lands for King Alfonso III. But the land returned to Arab control around the 10th century. It was during this time that the first concrete reference to the village of Abientes, by celebrated writer D. Gundesindo, appeared (today in the Torre do Tombo), but whose reproduction is uncertain, even as Alexandre Herculano transcribed it.

Avintes was later referenced during the Inquirições (Inquiries) of King Afonso III in 1258, where it pertained to the judicial sector of Gondomar (south of the Douro River). In similar inquiries during the reign of King Denis, around 1284 (or 1288), the area was referenced as São Pedro de Avintes, where its religious limites were identified and its stewardship fixed to its vicar, Martim Anes. Little more is mentioned of the area, which was part of the parish of Seixezelo.