Sacavem

Sacavém is a Portuguese civil parish (freguesia), in the municipality of Loures, just a few kilometers northeast of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon. The parish covers an area of 4.09 km2 (1.6 sq mi), with a population of 17,659 inhabitants (2001 Census). The region is known for its famous ceramics industry.

Due to its strategic location, at the intersection of roads from the north and the east to Lisbon, Sacavém was important during several periods of Portuguese History, with evidence extending back pre-history. The Portuguese historian Pinho Leal wrote, in his chorography Portugal Antigo & Moderno (Ancient & Modern Portugal), that "Sacavém is incontestably a very old settlement, and already existed in the time of the Romans". The oldest known references date back to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic: three polished stone axes were discovered from the Bronze Age, and in the mid-1980s, excavations in the historical centre of the city revealed a cave with some artifacts from the period.