Abrantes

Abrantes (ubrän'tish) [key], town (1991 pop. 5,975), Santarém dist., W central Portugal, in Ribatejo, on the Tagus River. It is the commercial center of a fruit growing region. Historically, Abrantes was a strategic point on the road to Lisbon. Alfonso I took it from the Moors in 1148. John I gathered his army there before the battle of Aljubarrota (1385). In the Napoleonic Wars, the French under Junot won the battle of Abrantes in 1807, but in 1810 they were unable to take the town by siege.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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