Viseu

Viseu (viˈzew) is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the district of the same name, with a population of nearly 100,000 inhabitants in the entire municipality, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões intermunipical community, with 267,633 inhabitants. Settled during the period of the early Iberian Castro culture, the territory of Viseu was populated by a series of cultures including the Romans, Suebs, Visigoths and Moors. During the Roman occupation of Iberia, Viriathus, the rebel leader of the Lusitanians, is assumed to have lived for a time in the vicinity. During the Middle Ages, the city often served as a seat for Visigothic nobles (such as King Roderic), and is considered one of the probable birthplaces of Afonso Henriques, first King of Portugal. Viseu is a regional economic hub with a strong wine industry and is the seat of the international conglomerate Visabeira. The city is also a cultural center, home to the nationally acclaimed Grão Vasco Museum, the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Viseu, and center of national universities, including the Catholic University of Portugal. The origins of the city of Viseu date back to the pre-Roman period, with its name being reconstructed from the indigenous word 'Vissaîegobor' as *Vissaium, perhaps with a latinised suffix. With its Romanisation the settlement gained importance, being at the intersection of a series of Roman roads linking Mérida, Lisbon, and Galicia. Viseu is associated with Viriathus, since it is thought that the Lusitanian hero may have been born in this region. After the Roman occupation of the peninsula, under the Visigoths, the settlement was elevated to the status of city and to the seat of a diocese by at least the 6th century. The origins of Viseu extend to proto-history, when migrating groups settled the territory, including the Celts and Lusitanians. Roman colonists settled in these territories during eras of prosperity and peace, leading eventually to Suebic, Gothic and Muslim cultures.