Culture of Portugal
The culture of Portugal designates the cultural practices and traditions of the Portuguese people. It is rooted on the interactions between many different civilizations that inhabited the area during the past millennia. From prehistoric cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations, passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world, the Roman period, the Germanic invasions of the Suebi, Buri and Visigoths, Viking incursions, Sephardic Jewish settlement, and finally, the Moorish Umayyad invasion of Hispania and the subsequent expulsion during the Reconquista, all have influenced the country's culture and history.
The name of Portugal itself reveals much of the country's early history, stemming from the Roman name Portus Cale, a Latin name meaning "Port of Cale", later transformed into Portucale, and finally into Portugal, which emerged as a county of the Kingdom of León and became an independent kingdom in 1139. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was a major economic, political, and cultural power, its global empire stretching from the Americas, to Africa, and various regions of Asia and Oceania.
Portugal, as a country with a long history, is home to several ancient architectural structures, as well as typical art, furniture and literary collections mirroring and chronicling the events that shaped the country and its peoples. It has a large number of cultural landmarks ranging from museums to ancient church buildings to medieval castles. Portugal is home to fifteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites, ranking it 8th in Europe and 17th in the world.
Overview
The Portuguese participate in many cultural activities, indulging their appreciation of art, music, drama, and dance. Portugal has a rich traditional folklore, with great regional variety. Many cities and towns have a museum and a collection of ancient monuments and buildings. Many towns have at least a cinema, some venues to listen to music and locations to see arts and crafts. In the larger cities visits to the theatre, concerts or galleries of modern exhibitions are popular, and Portugal can boast not only international-scale venues in Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Guimarães and Coimbra but also many acclaimed artists from various disciplines. The importance of the arts is illustrated by the fact that on the death of Amália Rodrigues, the "Queen of Fado" in October 1999, three days of national mourning was declared. In 1998, José Saramago, one of Portugal's well-known writers, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Lisbon, Porto and Guimarães were all designated European Capitals of Culture, contributing to a current renaissance in artistic creation, and in 2004 Portugal hosted the European football finals in specially constructed stadiums.In smaller towns and villages, cultural activity may revolve around local folklore, with musical groups performing traditional dance and song. Local festivities are very popular during the summer season in all kinds of localities ranging from villages to cities, as well as beach holidays from July to September. Portuguese people in almost all major towns and the cities like to know their places which are generally well equipped with modern facilities and offer a wide variety of attractions ranging from shops and stores of the most renowned brands to cinemas, restaurants and hypermarkets. Café culture is also regarded as an important cultural feature of the Portuguese. As the most popular sport, football events involving major Portuguese teams are always widely followed with great enthusiasm. There are a few bullrings in Portugal, although the passion for bullfighting was traditionally more popular in the Ribatejo and Alentejo regions.
Architecture
Since the second millennium BC, there has been important construction in the area where Portugal is situated today. Portugal boasts several scores of medieval castles, as well as the ruins of several villas and forts from the period of Celtic and Roman occupation. Modern Portuguese architecture follows the most advanced trends seen in European mainstream architecture with no constraints, though preserving some of its distinct characteristics. The azulejo and the Portuguese pavement are two typical elements of Portuguese architecture. Portugal is perhaps best known for its distinctive Late-Gothic Manueline architecture, with its intricate designs attributed to Portugal's Age of Discoveries.Another type of architecture is, owing to King John V's long reign which lasted 44 years. Thanks to the gold from Brazil, John V of Portugal could afford foreign artists such as Nicolau Nasoni, to build outstanding works of art. The creations of Portuguese artists can be identified throughout the country, in the altars of gilded panels, blue and white tiles which adorn churches, halls, staircases and gardens.
It was during this period of prosperity, that some of the greatest Portuguese artworks were completed, including: the Royal Building of Mafra, the Clérigos Church, the Baroque Library Biblioteca Joanina, the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga, the Shrine of Our Lady of Remedies in Lamego or the Mateus Palace in Vila Real. Because of the history of the Portuguese Empire, several countries across the world are home to sizeable heritages of Portuguese colonial architecture, notably Brazil and Uruguay in the Americas, Angola, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Benin, Ghana, Morocco, Guinea Bissau, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique in Africa, and China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Timor Leste in Asia. Notable Portuguese architects of the past have included Diogo de Arruda, João Antunes, Eugénio dos Santos and Carlos Mardel, José Luis Monteiro, Raul Lino, Cassiano Branco and Fernando Távora. Famous living architects include Gonçalo Byrne, Eduardo Souto de Moura, António Maria Braga, João Carrilho da Graça and Álvaro Siza Vieira.
Dance
s include: Circle dance, Vira, Two-Steps Waltz, Fandango, Schottische, Corridinho, Bailarico, Vareirinha, Malhão, Vareira, Maneio, Vira de Cruz, Vira Solto, Vira de Macieira, Sapatinho, Tau-Tau, Ciranda, Zé que Fumas, Regadinho, O Pedreiro and Ó Ti Taritatu. There are also variations of these dances called the Chamarita in the Azores. Dance apparel is highly varied, ranging from work clothes to Sunday's best, with rich distinguished from the poor.Cinema
In the 1990s around 10 full-length fictional works were produced per annum, Portugal's filmmakers tending to be artisans. Financing of Portuguese cinema is by state grants and from television stations. The internal market is very small and Portuguese penetration of international markets is fairly precarious. A film is considered a success when it draws an audience of more than which few Portuguese films manage to achieve.Image:Manoel de Oliveira Cannes.jpg|right|thumb|Filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira
Director Manoel de Oliveira was the oldest director in the world, and continued to make films until his death on 2 April 2015, at the age of 106. Since 1990 he made an average of one film per annum. He has received international recognition awards and won the respect of the cinematography community all over the world. Retrospectives of his works have been shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Film Festival, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Despite his international recognition, the films of Oliveira are neglected locally.
João César Monteiro, a member of the generation that founded the "New Portuguese Cinema" in the 1960s which was influenced by the Nouvelle Vague, a provocative film maker in the 1990s made "O Último Mergulho", "A Comédia de Deus", "Le Bassin de John Wayne" and "As Bodas de Deus". "A Comédia de Deus" won the Jury's Special Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1995.
Teresa Villaverde is a younger filmmaker and in the 1990s she surfaced as a director, her film won the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival.
Significant comedy films of the 1930s and 1940s include: A Canção de Lisboa directed by José Cottinelli Telmo, starring Vasco Santana and Beatriz Costa, the second Portuguese sound feature film, and still one of the best-loved films in Portugal, with several of its lines and songs still being quoted today; O Pai Tirano , directed by António Lopes Ribeiro, starring Vasco Santana, Francisco Ribeiro and Leonor Maia and one of the best-known comedies of the Golden Age of Portuguese Cinema; O Pátio das Cantigas, a comedy/ musical from 1942 directed by Francisco Ribeiro, with Vasco Santana, António Silva, Francisco Ribeiro and others. It's a portrait of the relations between neighbours in a Lisbon courtyard. A story made of small episodes of humor, friendship, rivalry, and love.
Recent films
O Crime do Padre Amaro: is a Portuguese film adapted from a book of Eça de Queiroz, directed by Carlos Coelho da Silva. This was a low quality production sponsored by Sociedade Independente de Comunicação. Even so, this film beat all the records of box- office of all the Portuguese film in Portugal. The main characters are Jorge Corrula as Padre Amaro and Soraia Chaves as Amélia, and the main ingredients of this film are the sex and the nudity.Zona J: is a Portuguese drama/romance film directed by Leonel Vieira in 1998, starring Sílvia Alberto, Ana Bustorff, Núria Madruga, Milton Spencer and Félix Fontoura.
Sorte Nula: directed by Fernando Fragata, starring Hélder Mendes, António Feio, Adelaide de Sousa, Rui Unas, Isabel Figueira, Bruno Nogueira, Carla Matadinho, Tânia Miller and Zé Pedro.
Alice directed by Marco Martins and starring Beatriz Batarda, Nuno Lopes, Miguel Guilherme, Ana Bustorff, Laura Soveral, Ivo Canelas, Carla Maciel, José Wallenstein and Clara Andermatt is a multi-prize film from 2005. It has won prizes in Cannes Film Festival; Las Palmas Festival in Spain; Golden Globes in Portugal; Mar del Plata International Film Festival in Argentina, Raindance film Festival in United Kingdom and other prizes.
Filme do Desassossego or Film of Disquiet directed by João Botelho, starring Cláudio da Silva, Alexandra Lencastre, Rita Blanco, Catarina Wallenstein, Margarida Vila-Nova, Mónica Calle, Marcello Urgeghe and Ricardo Aibéo in 2010. Inspired by a book of Fernando Pessoa.
Meu Querido Mês de Agosto directed by Miguel Gomes is a hybrid fiction/documentary film from 2009 that achieved some visibility at the Cannes Film Festival.
Tabu directed by Miguel Gomes starring Ana Moreira, Carloto Cotta, Ivo Mueller, Laura Soveral, Manuel Mesquita, Isabel Muñoz Cardoso, Henrique Espírito Santo and Teresa Madruga. The film won two prizes in the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival and another two in the Las Palmas Festival in Spain.
Rafa, a short-film directed by João Salaviza, starring Rodrigo Perdigão and Joana de Verona.This film have win the best short film is Berlin International Film Festival in 2012.
Arena, directed by João Salaviza starring Carloto Cotta, won the 2009 Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm for best short film.
Sangue do meu Sangue directed by João Canijo, starring Rita Blanco, Nuno Lopes, Cleia Almeida, Anabela Moreira, Rafael Morais and Fernando Luís. Is a multi-prized film from 2012 that won prizes in: International auteur cinema festival of Barcelona; Miami Festival, Pau Festival in France; New Vision Award in Crossing Europe Festival in Austria; San Sebastin Festival; Otra Mirada Prize by TVE channel in Spain; Faial Film Festival in Portugal; Golden Globes in Portugal; Auteur Portuguese Society in Portugal and Ways of Portuguese cinema in Coimbra, Portugal.
O Barão directed by Edgar Pêra, starring Nuno Melo, Luísa Costa Gomes, Leonor Keil, Edgar Pêra, Marina Albuquerque, Miguel Sermão and Marcos Barbosa in 2010.
Alma Portuguesa, a 2020 documentary directed by Brazilian Mauro Ventura.