Algueirão-Mem Martins 3.49

Algueirão – Mem Martins is a Portuguese civil parish, in the municipality of Sintra. The population in 2011 was 66,250, in an area of 16.00 km². it has a population density of about 4000 inhabitants per kilometer square (and is one of the most densely populated parishes in Portugal).It was elevated from the status of village to town on 1 February 1988.HistoryToponymyThe toponym 'Algueirão' dates back the Muslim presence in the region between the 8th and 12th centuries. It evolved from the Arab term al-gueirān, meaning the caves.'Mem Martins' is a proper name of uncertain origin, consisting of the medieval given name Mem and the patronymic Martins, likely after one of the first property owners in the region following the Portuguese conquest of Lisbon and Sintra.Architecture Fountain of Sacotes Church of Nossa Senhora das Mercês, a 17th-century church and churchyard; Hermitage of São Romão, a Manueline-era rural hermitage, comprising one nave with chapel covered in vaulted ceiling.