On November 16th, Miguel Metelo de Seixas launches the book Heráldica na Vila de Cascais in an edition of the respective Municipal Council.

The book is organized into three distinct periods.

In the first, before the 19th century, the heraldry of this strategic but poor town revolved around a few arms: the Crown, first of all, as it could only be in a square of this importance; then, the Castro family, which from the end of the Middle Ages until the end of the Ancien Régime held the lordship of the town; finally, religious institutions.

In the second, the heraldry testifies to the town’s regeneration, which took place in the second half of the 19th century, projected from then on as a holiday seat for Portuguese high society. The heraldic signs disseminated throughout the town show how the court aristocracy appropriated its spaces, shaping them according to a pattern of dissemination that had the royal family as its epicentre, later spreading in concentric circles.

In the third period, heraldry continues the courtly uses of the previous period, but another standard is gradually being imposed, focused on an institutional dimension. From then on, the emblems that appear in urban space are essentially linked to the affirmation of the City Council and various State bodies. One constant emerges from the three periods mentioned: the privileged relationship between heraldry and space.

The book Heráldica na Vila de Cascais will be presented by Helena Gonçalves Pinto in the Auditorium of the Cascais Cultural Center (Casas da Gandarinha) on November 16th, at 3:30 pm.