Parish of Samuel
The Parish of Samuel is located in the Central Region of Portugal, in the sub-region of Baixo Mondego, next to the municipalities of Figueira da Foz and Montemor-o-Velho, and consists of a predominantly agricultural and forest area, in which highlight the culture of rice and olive oil.
The Parish of Samuel is the second largest of the municipality with 31.4 km2 in area, 1300 inhabitants and 22 small towns.
Although the first written news concerning Samuel is from 1258, the material traces trace back the occupation of this territory to the Neolithic; This was verified given the exceptional conditions that Man has found here to settle: the proximity of the sea and the countryside, and the existence of thermal waters, would have been elements that made a fundamental contribution to this fixation.
Having belonged to the Seiça Monastery, it was, for a short period of the last century, the seat of the Council, having moved to the Soure in 1853.
In the golden age of thermalism, the Alder, Azenha and Bicanho Fountains were important poles of economic development; Today, agriculture plays a major role in the local economy, despite the existence of small industrial units.
Since 2015, the Bicanho Hot Springs have been reactivated, which brought Samuel back to the dynamics of tourism.
