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 History 
THE FORMATION OF THE RIA
The geological formation of the peninsula to which Torreira belongs is connected to the formation of the Ria of Aveiro. However, there are several contradictory opinions about this matter.
Marques Gomes and Rocha Madahil defend that the Ria is modern and post Roman Empire.
Amorim Girão states that the sand cord in which Torreira is located already existed in Roman times, at least partially, and Araújo e Silva goes on to give the Ria an approximate age of twenty-five centuries. Alberto Souto thinks this estimated age won’t be far from the truth and considers we can talk about a Ria (still very incomplete) aged three millennia.
We tend to be more close to these last opinions and are inclined to join those who have pointed the «pelagia insula» of the «Ora Maritima», of the roman writer Avieno, as being our Ria, although our opinions is less legitimate in this area. Alberto Souto also admits the «pelagia insula» can be located in the Ria of Aveiro
Less contradictory is the idea that the sand cord where Torreira is situated was the last part of the Ria to have been formed, after the marine area (19; see particularly, about the formation of the Ria, 19, p. 109). Having been without a doubt the last part to be formed, the small peninsula gained width through wind action, which helped to deposit the sand in the dunar cord East (19; pp. 124-125). Rocha e Cunha (17; p. 27 – map – and p. 28) locates the bar in Torreira around the year 1200, a largely accepted opinion which various authors afterwards also published.
In his answer to the 1758 inquiry, the priest of Murtosa says the land in the Gelfa is neither cultivated nor has trees, it is just a quicksand peninsula. Eduardo Costa states, in a comment to the priest’s answer (1), and we agree, that the existence of livestock in the Gelfa would al least suppose that people grew the necessary pasture to feed the animals. The afforestation in the region must have occurred after that.
Medieval references
We have already seen that in the XII century the dune reached Torreira, and with it the county of Cabanões (today Ovar), to which the whole dunar cord – named Gelfa – belonged as it was formed (5; p. 63).
The oldest known reference to Gelfa is from 1283 (D. Diniz’s donations, book I, 64), where the name «Guelfa» appears. Then, the king donated this land to Pedro Bermutes. The Gelfa belonged to the Grijó monastery afterwards, which kept there many livestock (horses, goats, cattle, pigs) that would die in the 1348 epidemics. The locals started in the meanwhile to use the Gelfa as a public path, with some lords having rights from this usage (5; p. 64). Between these lords were Porto’s See and the Lords of the Castle of Feira (later the House of Princes).
In the beginning of the XVI century, the Ovar charter refers the “gelffa” but does not mention Torreira.
Etymology: Gelfa, Torreira, Muranzel
Monsignor Miguel de Oliveira (13, pp. 76-80; and, especially, 13, 80 and 81, footnotes) gives us some relevant data about the Gelfa, giving it the meaning that still appears in dictionaries (grass, pasture growing from uncultivated lands), and another bolder meaning, quoting a French author, who states that this name comes from the Arab word «djilf»: «terre où les récoites sont précaires, champs abandonnés à la grâce de Dieu», or meaning, more familiarly, disorder.
About Torreira, José Pedro Machado (7) is doubtful, giving the word two possible origins: «terra» (land) or «torre» (tower), for there are also several other villages with this name. Dr. José Tavares (20, p. 201) fantasizes about a «Torreira, due to the burning ground and the trembling air», the heat, the roasting in the sun.
To the feminine suffix «-eira» is usually given the meaning «place where we find the object expressed in the main word» (14, p. 205), in this case, possibly, a tower. The Torreira area was also called Areia (Sand) by the locals of Murtosa (20, p. 39), which would lead to a combination of the two words (Torre de Areia – Sand tower) to form the toponym we know in the present times.
Less likely, but also to keep in mind, is the connection of the toponym with the one from Torrão do Lameiro. The first document to talk about Torrão do Lameiro dates from 1607 and refers to the salt fields (1). The studies about terms used in salt exploitation fields (so frequent in the past of the region) give us «torroeira», meaning «area from where we extract clod» and «torrão» (clod) meaning «pieces of clay with roots and dirt that later develop to make clod» (3 and 11). There are, however, no references to this kind of salt fields in the area near Torreira.
About Muranzel there seem to be some important clues in the king’s charter of 20-3-1584 (9), about which we are told first hand by Lopes Pereira and Father Vieira de Rezende, in their «Monografia da Gafanha». This charter makes reference to a tower from where in the past boats sailed in and out of the Ria, paying the appropriate taxes. In February 1978, due to a rise in the sea levels and the strong waves, parts of a cylinder like structure were found; it had a considerable diameter [. . . ] inside not more than a tangle of stones used in its construction, while on the outside [. . . ]it had two levels (the rest were destroyed by time, probably) destined to be used as a stairway (9). Lopes Pereira (6, pp. 25-26, footnotes) indicates Torreira as a possible location of the abovementioned tower maybe in Muranzel, around 1200. From this tower we would have the combination of muro (wall) and aranzel (grosso modo meaning regulation) in Muranzel (9), though we suspect the origin of the word may be in Almundazel (19, p. 111)
Fishing and tourism
(economic activities)
As it seems, the settling of people in Torreira and not in any other part of the Gelfa occurred because the sea was closer to the Ria for those who crossed it coming from the marine land (20, p. 201). With the passing of time, Torreira became the most famous and active fishing centre in Beira Litoral, especially for the sardine fishing (5, p. 71), and the basis of local economy was fishing. By 1899, Torreira as still a big fishing centre and sea bathing area. Egas Moniz (1874-1955) tells in his autobiography («A Nossa Casa») that as a child he bathed with his family in Torreira. Marques Gomes states that «Torreira as a beach colony and sea fishing station did not exist after the last quarter of the XVII century, with fishermen’s houses, called palheiros, all located by the margins of the Ria, and it was in these houses that all the people who went to bathe there were accommodated» (10, p. XIX). Referring himself to the XIX century, another author says that «the beach in Torreira was visited by the finest of society’s people in the centre of the country, from Bairrada to Viseu, and to the limits of the county of Feira» (20, p. 142).
The fishing activity as organized in ‘companhas’ (companies), whose numbers varied during the years. In 1835 there would be 7 companhas (20, p. 45) and in 1852 that number was 9 (8), the biggest number we have records of. In 1874 and 1885 there were 6 companhas (20, pp. 239-240; 20, p. 242). We have register of 5 companies in 1895 (20, p. 299) and, a few years later, in 1899, 6 companies (10). Almost everyone of these fishing companies lived in Murtosa and went fishing on the coast of Torreira in the months of May/June and November each year (1 and 16), leaving the place nearly deserted during the rest of the year, in the hands of the hermit who looked after the chapel of St. Paio. The pulling of the fishing nets out of the sea was made first by men and then by cattle (20).
In 1836, we have knowledge of a «social security» system working between the fishermen (20, pp. 55 and following), which implied, among other things, that ill fishermen still earned their salaries, as well as fishermen’s widows. It’s interesting to see how this system eventually became official (decree given on 5 November 1852 and published on the Diário do Governo on 20 November that year) before any other country in the world established their own state social security system. Marques Gomes also refers this subject (10).
The only construction made in Torreira in the XIX century were rudimentary wooden shacks, fragile and exposed to fire and other forces of nature, layed in two rows, one near the sea and the other near the Ria, being the last the more developed ones (20, pp. 217 and following). By 1885 the houses near the river were used as sardine warehouses and the seaside ones as homes for fishermen and tourists during the summer.
A curious fact is that there was in Torreira a railroad to transport fish from the sea and the river, opened in 1877 and that lasted several years. Various means were used to move the cars (20, p. 199): the cars were pulled by horses, by counterweight with water, steam, electricity and even wind sailing. In 1873 there were projects to link by railroad Estarreja and Bestida and also Torreira in 1874, though none of these projects gained life (20, pp. 185 and following; small reference in 16).
St. Paio
By 1758 in «the place of Torreira» existed, in sand lands, between the sea and the river, the Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso, with statuettes of St. Lázaro and St. Paio in the secondary altars. St. Paio in Torreira was already very popular for fighting illnesses. The pilgrimage for the party of Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso was on 27 July and it attracted many people, as well as boats. Slightly smaller than the other pilgrimages existing then in Gelfa was the one for St. Lázaro and St. Paio, together on 7 and 8 September (1).
Marques Gomes states in 1899 (10, p. XXIV) that the party «brings thousands of pilgrims to Torreira» and is «the most popular pilgrimage in the district». The highest moment in the festivities consisted of bathing the saint in red wine, on the eve and the day of the party, and then drink the wine, to send all evil away. The chapel dedicated to St. Paio was several times buried under the sand and rebuilt.
In the summer, in the XIX century, there used to be music on the beach on Sundays and holy days (16).
This party dedicated to St. Paio was inspiration to many popular rhymes, published by many authors.
Journalism
Torreira had the first newspaper of the current county of Estarreja. It was called «Boletim da Torreira», first edited on 15-9-1853 and it had only 5 numbers. It was printed in Aveiro and was run by Dr. Luciano de Castro (5, p. 72; 21, pp. 144-145; 10). Having existed many other publications in Torreira, we think that maybe the «Revista da Torreira», published between 1923 and 1925, deserves a special attention.
Administration
Lopes Ferreira points 1 December 1835 as the date of the integration of Torreira in the county of Estarreja (6, p. 44) and Dr. José Tavares also refers the same year to that event (20, p.45). In fact, the Diário do Governo of 11-12-1835 published a decree of 1-12-1835, which separates Torreira from Ovar and includes it in the county of Estarreja. Torreira remained part of the parish of Ovar and may have returned to that county, for it was for a second time included in Estarreja in 1855, as we will see next.
Marques Gomes indicates that on 24 October 1955 Torreira became a neighbourhood of Murtosa and on 10 September 1856 a part of the parish of Bunheiro (10, p. XIX). Dr. José Tavares defends that Torreira was part of the parish of Bunheiro in 1885 and a part of Murtosa around 1854 (20, p. 242). If, in fact, Torreira really belonged to the parish of Bunheiro we are not certain, but we get the idea that if it did it was due to the pilgrimages of St. Paio, when the priest of Bunheiro came to celebrate to Torreira. The doubt existed already in 1885. The City Hall of Estarreja claims in 1865 that they took care of the chapel of St. Paio since 1834 (20, p. 235)! Apart from these opinions, we now present some documents that are important in the history of Torreira’s administration. On 19-11-1855, the Diário do Governo publishes a decree of 24-10-1855 in which Torreira becomes part of Murtosa and the same publication, on 18-9-1856, indicates that Torreira becomes a part of the parish of Murtosa in a decree of 10-9-1856. The neighbourhood of Torreira is created on 30-10-1926 (2) and the church was opened in 1952 (12).
Demography
We know that «Torreira» had one single neighbour in 1758 (1), i.e., one couple or one family. It was probably the hermit who took care of the chapel and the fishermen’s possessions, who came only when it was fishing season and therefore were not accounted for as population. In the second half of the XIX century there were around 500 houses, all made of wood, although this information is not very reliable (16). Official data, started when Torreira became independent from Murtosa, show the following numbers:
Year – Population (4)
1930 – 1091 (235 houses)
1940 – 1404 (446 houses)
1950 – 1641
1960 – 1588
1971 – 1590
1981 – 2181 (1022 houses)
1991 – 2297 (2266 houses)
2001 – 2495 (2783 houses)
The growing number of houses in the last decades is due to tourism.
Accessibility
The passage from Murtosa to Torreira was made by boat in the XIX century from Portigão (Murtosa) and, especially and in a more lasting way, from Bestida (Bunheiro). The first motor boats appeared in the final years of monarchy (20, p. 201). Finally, the bridge of Varela was only inaugurated in 1964.
Bibliography
1. Costa, Eduardo, Memória Paroquial de Ovar de 1758, A. D. A., vol. XXXIV, p. 204 e ss.
2. Diário do Governo; anos 1835, 1852, 1855, 1856, 1926
3. Dias, Diamantino, «Glossário – designações relacionadas com as marinhas de sal da ria de Aveiro», 1996
4. Instituto Nacional de Estatística (apontamentos avulsos)
5. Lopes Pereira, «Murtosa – gente nossa», 3.ª ed., 1995
6. Lopes Pereira, «Murtosa – terra nossa», 2.ª ed., 1995
7. Machado, José Pedro, «Dicionário onomástico etimológico de língua portuguesa», 2.ª ed., 1993
8. Maranhão, Pe. Francisco dos Prazeres, «Diccionario Geographico...», 1852
9. Marques, Fernando, «A terra da Marinha» (conferência realizada na Câmara Municipal da Murtosa, no 61.º aniversário do concelho), 1987
10. Marques Gomes, «Notícia Histórica», in «A Murtosa – A propósito da sua autonomia», de José Maria Barbosa, 1899
11. Nogueira, R. de Sá, «Subsídios para o estudo da linguagem das salinas», separata de «A língua portuguesa», vol. IV, 1935
12. Nogueira Gonçalves, A., «Inventário artístico de Portugal», vol. X, Distrito de Aveiro – Zona Norte, 1981
13. Oliveira, Monsenhor Miguel de, «Ovar na Idade Média», 1967
14. Piel, Joseph-Marie, «A formação dos nomes de lugares e de instrumentos em português», 1940
15. Pinho, João Frederico Teixeira de, «Memórias e datas para a história da vila de Ovar», 1959 (edição post-mortem do autor, falecido em 1870)
16. Pinho Leal, «Portugal Antigo e Moderno» (em vários volumes, sendo de 1880 aquele em que aparece a Torreira)
17. Rocha e Cunha, S., «O Porto de Aveiro», 2.ª ed., 1959 (conferência realizada em 1923)
18. Rocha Madahil, A. G., Foral de Ovar, A. D. A., vol. IX, p. 306 e ss.
19. Souto, Alberto, «Origens da Ria de Aveiro», 1923
20. Tavares Afonso e Cunha, José, «Notas Marinhoas», vol. IV, 1994
21. Zagalo dos Santos, A., «Imprensa periódica do distrito de Aveiro», A. D. A., vol. IX
In M. P., «O Jornal de Estarreja», 5.IX.2003
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