Tiles, Carnival and pão-de-ló in Ovar
Ovar is known as the living museum city of tiles, for façades from the 19th and 20th centuries. Read on for a city of fishermen and salt merchants, the house where Júlio Dinis convalesced in 1863, a Carnival held since 1952 and pão-de-ló sponge cake first recorded in 1781.
0 breweries · 0 venues
Ovar grew from the merging of several nearby villages, chief among them Ovar and Cabanões, and records of its people go back to the 11th century. The parish council suggests the name may come from the Latin "villa odoari", Odoaro's estate, and the old forms "Var" and "O Var" explain why locals and their things are called "vareiro" or "varino". A land of farmers, fishermen, salt merchants and craftsmen, it received a new charter from King Manuel I on 10 February 1514. Its real growth came from the 18th century, with the arte xávega fishing method and new ways of salting and preserving fish, a technique brought from France in 1773 by João Pedro Mijoulle. Hardship also sent many vareiros to other Portuguese ports, inland to the Beiras and Trás-os-Montes, and across the Atlantic to Brazil. In 1919 the town was made an officer of the Order of the Tower and Sword for resisting the monarchists, and it became a city in 1984. Ovar's tiled façades from the 19th and 20th centuries led the museologist Rafael Salinas Calado to call it the "Cidade-Museu Vivo do Azulejo", the living museum city of tiles, and since 2000 the council has had its own workshop to research and restore them. In the summer of 1863 the writer Júlio Dinis, already ill with tuberculosis, came to convalesce at the Casa dos Campos, his aunt's house, where he found inspiration for novels such as As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor; it has been the Museu Júlio Dinis since 1996. Ovar's Carnival has been held since 1952, and its pão-de-ló sponge cake was first recorded in 1781, offered to the priests who carried the float in the Procession of the Steps. Beyond the city lie pine-fringed beaches, the Ria de Aveiro and the Barrinha de Esmoriz lagoon.
The craft beer scene in Ovar is still waiting to be discovered, so look to nearby places such as Aveiro or Porto when planning where to find a local brew.
No places listed here yet.
Frequently asked questions
The tiled façades of Ovar from the 19th and 20th centuries led the museologist Rafael Salinas Calado to call it the Cidade-Museu Vivo do Azulejo, the living museum city of tiles. Since 2000 the council has had its own workshop to research and restore them. Ovar became a city in 1984.
In the summer of 1863 the writer Júlio Dinis, already ill with tuberculosis, came to convalesce at the Casa dos Campos, his aunt's house, where he found inspiration for novels such as As Pupilas do Senhor Reitor. The house has been the Museu Júlio Dinis since 1996.
The pão-de-ló sponge cake of Ovar was first recorded in 1781, offered to the priests who carried the float in the Procession of the Steps. The city's Carnival has been held since 1952, and beyond the city lie pine-fringed beaches, the Ria de Aveiro and the Barrinha de Esmoriz lagoon.