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Burgus Craft Beer
0.9 mi from the city centre · Figueira da Foz · Portugal
Seaside heritage in Figueira da Foz
Figueira da Foz is known as the 'queen of the beaches', a resort at the mouth of the Mondego that grew famous in the 1920s and 1930s. Read on for a 16th-century fort, the old fishing quarter of Buarcos, a museum founded in 1894, an eclectic town hall and a cobbled promenade.
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Figueira da Foz, in the district of Coimbra, lies at the mouth of the River Mondego, 40 km west of Coimbra, sheltered by the hills of the Serra da Boa Viagem. Legend says the name comes from a fig tree on the quay of Salmanha where fishermen tied up their boats. The Romans left two inscribed denarii, and in the 11th century the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra began settling the land, aware of its value as a seaport. Afonso IV granted a charter to neighbouring Buarcos in 1342, and caravels left Buarcos for Ceuta in 1456.
Pirate raids in the 16th century led to the building of the Forte de Santa Catarina. In 1807 it was occupied by a garrison of Junot's army, and in 1808 it was retaken by volunteers led by the student Bernardo António Zagalo; that August, Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, landed about 3,000 men in the Mondego bay. King José made Figueira a town on 12 March 1771, and in the early 19th century the port and shipbuilding nearly doubled its population. At the end of that century the aristocracy began coming to bathe on its beaches, and Figueira became a city on 20 September 1882. It was known as the "Rainha das Praias", the queen of the beaches, and gained a great reputation in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Museu Municipal Santos Rocha, founded in 1894 by the archaeologist António dos Santos Rocha, has permanent exhibitions of archaeology, epigraphy, ethnography, coins, arms, Indo-Portuguese furniture, religious art and modern and contemporary art. The town hall, an eclectic building from 1897 by the Italian architects Cesare Lanz and Giuseppe Fiorentini, has a grand hall decorated to a design by Ernesto Korrodi. Look out too for the Sotto Mayor Palace, the old fishing village of Buarcos with its fortress, the Relógio Tower by the main beach and the long seafront promenade paved in Portuguese cobblestones.
Craft beer in Figueira da Foz is still a rare find, which makes tracking down a local pour part of the adventure. After a day on the promenade or up in the Serra da Boa Viagem, it is worth seeking out.
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Bars in Figueira da Foz
Frequently asked questions
Figueira da Foz is in the district of Coimbra, at the mouth of the River Mondego, 40 km west of Coimbra, sheltered by the hills of the Serra da Boa Viagem. Legend says the name comes from a fig tree on a quay where fishermen tied up their boats. It became a town in 1771 and a city in 1882.
At the end of the 19th century the aristocracy began coming to bathe on its beaches, and Figueira da Foz became known as the 'Rainha das Praias', the queen of the beaches, gaining a great reputation in the 1920s and 1930s. Today a long seafront promenade paved in Portuguese cobblestones runs along the coast.
Pirate raids in the 16th century led to the building of a fort. In 1807 it was occupied by a garrison of Junot's army, and in 1808 it was retaken by volunteers led by a student. That August, Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, landed about 3,000 men in the Mondego bay.
A municipal museum founded in 1894 has exhibitions of archaeology, coins, arms, Indo-Portuguese furniture, religious art and modern art. The town hall is an eclectic building from 1897 by two Italian architects. Look out too for a palace, the old fishing village of Buarcos with its fortress and a clock tower by the main beach.