Situated 25km/15.5mi west of Lisbon on the Costa do Sol, Cascais (Altitude: 0-20m/0-65f) is one of Portugal's most popular seaside resorts, with a correspondingly wide range of sporting and recreational facilities. Partly owing to the shelter from north winds afforded by the Serra de Sintra this former quiet fishing port swiftly expanded to
become an elegant, almost cosmopolitan, coastal resort but little of this elegance remains today. Although prosperous folk from Lisbon still live here Cascais is thronged in the summer months by an endless stream of sunseekers.
History
There was a settlement here in Roman times. Cascais was granted a charter in the 14th C., but it was devastated by the 1755 earthquake which destroyed most of its old buildings. As the summer residence of the kings of Portugal (from 1870) and the President of the Republic, the turn of the Century saw Cascais becoming a meeting place for high society.
Townscape
In recent years Cascais has grown at a furious rate and has now almost joined up with Estoril. Around the outskirts of the town high rise apartments predominate, together with some exclusive residential areas inhabited by rich Portuguese and many British, French and Germans. The old town center is the only place where there are still a few narrow alleys lined by pretty white houses, while the "smart" area of the town center is now a mass of restaurants, cafes and stalls catering for the tourist trade.
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