Albergaria-a-Velha

With traces of settlement from about 5000 B.C. Albergaria-a-Velha was founded by Queen Teresa, mother of the first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, through the donation of Couto Osseloa’s letter to the nobleman Gonçalo Eriz in 1117. The City of Albergaria-a-Velha has a prime location in natural surroundings between the Vouga river and the Ria of Aveiro and it benefits from the proximity to the coast, an extensive area of plains and also a mountainous area of varying altitudes. This diversity of natural scenery makes this city attractive for visits, being very close to urban centers like Aveiro, Porto, Coimbra and Viseu.

The Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha is located in the central area of the Aveiro region, in the centre of Portugal. The population is currently around 25 thousand inhabitants and an area of 159 km2. The City of Albergaria-a-Velha is located at a strategic road communication in the north-centre area of Portugal, 2,5 hours from Lisbon, 45 min. from Porto and 15 min. from Aveiro, all of them with important national sea ports. The main North and South rail line stops in Aveiro.

Albergaria-a-Velha is a city that due to its geostrategic position in the region has excellent road access and has become during the past years an important industrial hub. It has an industrial area of about 300ha and there are an estimated 2351 businesses in the Municipality. Skilled labour is one of the strengths of the municipality, statistics data shows that the access to higher education is between 2001 and 2011 increased by 64.17 %.

However, the rural side is equally important to the region as it occupies most of our territory. The main activities of the Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha are: land management, management and planning of several projects on different fields such as Culture, Education and Social Action in order to promote Employment, Entrepreneurship and Tourism.

In the last years, the Municipality developed several projects, such as the requalification of cultural and educational facilities such as the City Theater, the City Library and School Centers, and at the same time has implemented some projects that has the participation of private and public associations who have been promoting actions on different areas, such as promotion of local commerce and tourism. The municipality recently concluded the requalification of our local market in order to support local producers and promote local products.