Port of Póvoa de Varzim
In this small bay the local fishermen developed the Poveiro boats and Povoan knowledge of the seas and shipbuilding were substantial during the Age of Discovery.
According to the Livro Velho de Linhagens, the Ancient Book of Ancestries, he acquired the port of Varzim and several other possessions from Henry, Count of Portugal.
[5] One of the great-grandsons of Guterre Pelayo, Lourenço Fernandes da Cunha had great fortune in the town of Varzim and surrounding land.
In this way, Dom Gomes and his descendants, who are part of the honour of Varzim, went to the seaport and got the navão from the fishermen, justifying the attitude with the honor.
[6] By this, King Denis granted a royal charter to Varzim in 1308, ordering some local inhabitants to build a maritime settlement (Póvoa), he promoted farming development and the use of the seaport for the transport of production such as bread, wine and salt, but also fisheries from which the king took the best profits "the whale, the dolphin or royal belongings", that is, the most profitable catches.
[4] In the 16th century, the fishermen started to work in maritime activities, as pilots or seafarers in the crew of the Portuguese ships, due to their high nautical knowledge.
[4][10] The carrack was constructed by Povoan merchants and Captain Diogo Dias did not want to accept the government's gratifications, and paid the crew with his own money, who followed him with dedication and courage.
His brother, António Cardina, Póvoa de Varzim's town hall judge, was the main pilot of the Portuguese armada and gained notability in the defense and liberation of the city of Bahia, also captured by the Dutch.
Carvalho da Costa, in Corografia Portugal, of 1706, stated that the Town of Póvoa de Varzim is an ancient settlement, with sheltered bay harbour, in which in ancient times ships docked and left, Dom Guterre, of the Cunha branch, was its lord....[4] The Nossa Senhora da Lapa Brotherhood, founded in 1761 by the fishermen, got a charter in which they got authorization to build their homes in "chãos da areia", giving rise to a new and planned fisher quarter around the port of Póvoa de Varzim.
[9] In the Memorias economicas da Academia real das sciencias de Lisboa (Economic memories of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon) it states that the fishermen of Póvoa de Varzim are the most frequent in all the Minho coast, and were the most experts and with most practice from Cape St. Vincent to Caminha, with a sizable number of fishermen, ships and fishing devices, and the result is a very considerable quantity of caught fish, stating that "The fishermen of Póvoa de Varzim are always at sea, they are not happy with coastal fisheries, and they get fish from seas, that are ten or twelve leagues away from the town.
[3] In the 18th century, another document stated: "There is in this town one of the best sheltered bays in this kingdom; the nature formed it, according to the One who created it, and, with artwork that would improve it, by orders of the king and lord, it would be a marvel in Europe.
French engineer Reinald Oudinot was responsible for the construction under orders of the shire's corregedor Francisco de Almada e Mendonça.
[9] The construction works were incomplete as a south breakwater was needed, near the sandbank, in order to reduce the ocean currents strength.
Caetano Vasques Calafate (1890 - 1963) managed the propaganda and funding needed for the construction of the Casa dos Pescadores da Póvoa de Varzim (The Fishermen House), siding Lapa Light, in 1926.
On 11 March 1937 the Corporatist Estado Novo regime established the laws for the creation of fishermen houses in all fisher areas throughout the country.
One of the partisans of the cause was journalist Caetano Vasques Calafate who wrote about the ambition of the local fishermen in the press of Lisbon and Porto.
The city used the funds for further works on the seaport, improving it with piers, leisure venues and the construction of a marina in 1999 near the south breakwater, the location of the shipyard in the 20th century.
The Associação Pró-Maior Segurança dos Homens do Mar, with its headquarters in the port, was formed by the fishermen in order to pressure further developments on the seaport and safety at sea, including the complete recovery of it and a permanent solution to the sandbank, something that can be achieved by the enlargement of the north breakwater.
Passing seaman anchoring in the marina, according to main nationality in a recent year, were from the United Kingdom (35%), France (15%), Portugal (10%), Netherlands (8%), Spain (8%), Germany (8%), and Sweden (4%).
[citation needed] Lota (in Portuguese it literally means "fish market" and used as such until the 1990s) is a land area within the port of Póvoa de Varzim, near the North Breakwater.
The ISN was established as a private charity entity on 21 April 1892 by Queen Amélie under the name Real Instituto de Socorros a Náufragos (The Royal Institute of Rescue to Shipwreck victims).
