São Marcos da Serra

São Marcos da Serra, also known simply as São Marcos, is a village and the seat of the homonymous civil parish in the municipality of Silves, in Algarve region, Portugal. The population of the entire civil parish in 2011 was 1,352, in an area of 166.07 km².São Marcos takes its name from Saint Mark, the Evangelist. São Marcos is Portuguese for Saint Mark and da Serra means "of the Mountain Range". The specific date of creation of the civil parish of São Marcos da Serra is not yet known, however, the oldest documentary reference to this parish dates back to 1598 in the information that Fernando Martins Mascarenhas, Bishop of Faro sent to Pope Clement VIII on the state of his bishopric. It was certainly in the first half of the 16th century, during the reign of king Manuel I of Portugal that the parish of São Marcos arose, given that it was this monarch who undertook the entire reorganization of the administration of the territory and conferred the new charters on the Portuguese cities and towns. Integrated in this policy was the creation of new parishes, including São Marcos da Serra. The liberal revolution of 1820 put an end to the rigid absolutist system that was established until then and promoted the ideals of freedom and independence promoted by liberalism: civil equality, religious equality and property rights. These liberal ideals were strongly opposed by the toughest guerrilla leaders that the antiliberal Miguelist supporters organized throughout the country.

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