The little town of Montemor o Velho (Altitude: 51m/167ft), about halfway between Figueira da Foz and Coimbra, on a hill above the right bank of the Mondego, was of importance during the Middle Ages as an outpost defending the approach to Coimbra against the Moors advancing from Estremadura. The local economy is mainly given over to agriculture,
with rice the main crop. Montemor o Velho is the birthplace of the navigator Cavaleiro Diogo de Azambuja (1432-1518), the writer and world traveler Fernao Mendes Pinto (c. 1510-83), and the poet Jorge de Montemor (1520-61).
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