The municipality of Vila Real de Santo António inaugurated, on the 14th of May, two toponymic panels alluding to the old riverside batteries that constituted the defensive system of the mouth of the Guadiana.
The two inaugurations were attended by the mayor Álvaro Araújo and the councilor responsible for Culture and Toponymy, Conceição Pires, in addition to other technicians from the municipality.
Also present were the historian Fernando Pessanha, senior cultural technician and member of the Academia de Marinha, as well as the commander Afonso Martins, captain of the port of Vila Real de Santo António, among other representatives of the security forces and the nucleus of the Liga dos Combatentes from Vila Real de Santo António.
According to the mayor of Vila Real, these panels, designed by the architect Perpétua Almeida, have enriched the toponymy of the city and were produced based on research carried out by historian Fernando Pessanha, a specialist in the subject of privateering and piracy attacks. at the mouth of the Guadiana.
In this way, the roundabout on the southern edge of the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António was given the toponym of «Ponta da Areia Battery Rotunda», in memory of this defensive structure that dates back to the Fantastic War, which opposed Spain to Portugal, in 1762.
The roundabout on the northern edge of the same municipality was given the toponym of «Rotunda Battery of Pinheiro», in honor of one of the batteries that contributed to the Portuguese victory in the Great Battle of the Guadiana, which took place in 1801, in the context of the War of the Oranges .
According to the historian, «Vila Real de Santo António owes a debt of gratitude to the soldiers who defended this square and fought for the defense of national sovereignty in unavoidable moments of our Modern and Contemporary History. The attribution of these toponyms is, therefore, a symbolic act but one of deep recognition».
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