Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 municipality of Cascais

Cascais

Cascais is a coastal town in Cascais Municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, with about 35,000 residents. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal's royal...

, Lisboa District. The Estoril coast is close to Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, the capital of Portugal. It starts in Carcavelos

Carcavelos

Carcavelos is a parish in the Portuguese municipality of Cascais, about 12 km west of Lisbon. The village used to be known for the Carcavelos wine, but since the wine production is nowadays reduced, Carcavelos is better known among surfers because of the good surfing condition of the...

, 15 kilometres from Lisbon, and stretches as far as Guincho

Guincho Beach

Praia do Guincho is a popular Atlantic beach located on Portugal's Estoril coast, 5 km from the town of Cascais, and is located in the municipality of Cascais, more precisely in the parishes of Cascais and Alcabideche, in the District of Lisbon...

, often known as Costa de Estoril-Sintra

Sintra

Sintra is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion of Portugal. Owing to its 19th century Romantic architecture and landscapes, becoming a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.In addition to...

 or Lisbon Coast (Costa de Lisboa). Historically Estoril was composed of several boroughs along the coastline, namely - from East to West - those of São Pedro do Estoril, São João do Estoril, Santo António do Estoril (this is the area today known simply as Estoril) and Monte Estoril, among others further inland.

The two main resort towns along what is known as the Estoril coast are Estoril and Cascais

Cascais

Cascais is a coastal town in Cascais Municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, with about 35,000 residents. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal's royal...

. Estoril has a famous casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

, Casino Estoril

Casino Estoril

Casino Estoril is located in Estoril, near Lisbon, Portugal. It's the largest casino in Europe.During World War II, it was reputed to be a gathering spot for espionage agents, dispossessed royals, and wartime adventurers. It was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's 007 novel Casino Royale.-External...

. Estoril was the residence of Juan de Borbón, pretender to the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 throne during the last part of the 20th century.

The population of Estoril parish/village in 2001 was 23,769, its density is 2,702/km² and the area is 8.79 km².

The coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 are coloured blue a golden sun with five escutcheons one in the middle and one outside. The waves of grey and pine green lie to the bottom. The crown has three towers on the top.

There are remains of Roman mansions

Roman architecture

Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...

 dating back around 2,000 years.

Estoril used to be a significant fishing port.
Due to the vision of Fausto Cardoso de Figueiredo and his business partner Augusto Carreira de Sousa, it became an international tourist destination both during and after the Second World War. During this time a high number of dignitaries in exile came to Estoril. Miklós Horthy

Miklós Horthy

Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...

 (†1957), the regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 of Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, lived and died in exile

Exile

Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...

 in Estoril after the Second World War. Juan Carlos I of Spain

Juan Carlos I of Spain

Juan Carlos I |Italy]]) is the reigning King of Spain.On 22 November 1975, two days after the death of General Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated king according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. Spain had no monarch for 38 years in 1969 when Franco named Juan Carlos as the...

, Umberto II of Italy

Umberto II of Italy

Umberto II, occasionally anglicized as Humbert II was the last King of Italy for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. He was nicknamed the King of May -Biography:...

 and Carol II of Romania

Carol II of Romania

Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...

 also lived in Estoril during this time.

Sports

The major local sports club

Sports club

A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...

 is the Grupo Desportivo Estoril-Praia.

Motorsports

Motorsport

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

 events are frequent at the Estoril Circuit

Autódromo do Estoril

The Autódromo do Estoril is a race course in Portugal, owned by state-run holding management company Parpública. Its length is . It was the home of the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996....

, although Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 is no longer on the circuit's calendar. This was due to the circuit not coming up to FIA

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...

 safety standards, leading to the 1997 event being cancelled. Following a review on safety, Estoril was reshaped in 1999, the first two corners being affected the most. Today's circuit, is 4.183 km (2.6 mi) in length and is run in a clockwise fashion. The circuit currently hosts international motorcycling events (MotoGP

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...

), among other lower formula events.

Monte Estoril

The beautiful hill town of Monte Estoril is situated between Estoril and Cascais. The town, which houses the Verdades-Faria Museum, was built in 1917 by Jorge O'Neil. Later on, in 1942, the building was bought by Mantero Belard and dedicated to the support of the arts and artists. Following his death, the building was donated to Cascais Council under the name of Verdades Faria and eventually housed the Regional Portuguese Music Museum.

Other sections

At present, this Museum hosts an important collection of musical instruments related to popular music, assembled by Michael Giacometti. The museum is open for temporary exhibitions, concerts, and guided visits on request.

The Estoril area has supported Estoril as the flagship of Portuguese tourism. The area was initially called the Sun Coast but is now known as the Estoril Coast.

The area Cascais-Estoril is nowadays ranked as one of the most expensive places to live in Portugal.