Esgueira

Esgueira lies beside the tidal waters near Aveiro. Its position fostered salt production and trade, and documents mention the maritime waters of Esgueira as early as 1050. Count Henry granted the settlement a charter in 1110, while the monastery of Lorvão held property here. Manuel I issued a new charter in 1515, and in 1533 Esgueira became the seat of a comarca. Salt remained an important part of its economy until the seventeenth century, when the coastal waters and their flats still shaped local livelihoods.