A LITTLE ABOUT ITS HISTORY

Although there are no known traces of the far past of the territory of Ovar, one thinks it may have been inhabited since prehistory, as it presented favourable conditions for the establishment of primitive human communities, namely a coastline which was very different from what it is today, two lagoon areas, propitious for hunting and fishing, and light soils that were easy to work.

There are only records about the population of Ovar from the 11^th century on. As far as we know, the settlement of Ovar was the result of the amalgamation of several nearby villages, being Ovar and Cabanões the most important ones.

A land of farmers, fishermen, salt merchants and artisans, Ovar grew and became more important as time went by, and it was granted a charter by King Manuel I on the 10^th February 1514. However, the major boost to population growth in the area took place from the 18^th century on, due to a large extent to the introduction of new fishing techniques (Arte Xávega) and fish salting and conservation methods.

The hardships experienced by the inhabitants of Ovar, in their daily struggles, led many of them to migrate. Some spread to several ports along the Portuguese coast (all the way to the Algarve), others trod the difficult and tortuous paths of the Beiras and Trás-os-Montes. The most adventurous ones crossed the Atlantic and took their chances in Brazil.

In the 20^th century, with industrialization, which had gained momentum mostly since the 1950’s and 1960’s, Ovar became a totally different municipality, where more than half the active population works in the secondary sector, thus deeply changing the centuries-old rural and fishing framework.

Nowadays, Ovar is an industrial municipality with a very wide range of activities, from the textile and clothing industry to metal industry and the manufacture of metal products, from cooperage to the production of animal feed and rope making, from electrical material to car assembly or the manufacture of components.

In spite of industrial development and the resulting urbanization, Ovar still presents vast areas that are propitious for a wide range of tourist activities: beaches that stretch for miles, surrounded by pine forests, and the unparalleled beauty of the Ria de Aveiro (Aveiro Lagoon) and the Barrinha de Esmoriz (Esmoriz Lagoon).

Currently, in Ovar one aims to obtain a balanced development, with a resulting growth of the sector of trade and services which may ensure the growing well-being of the population. That balanced development, together with the concerns for environmental preservation and urban development, will certainly be one of the factors that will turn Ovar into an increasingly attractive and future-oriented municipality.