Leiria City Editorial Photo

Leiria is a city and a municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal. It is the capital of Leiria District. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leiria-Fátima. The region around Leiria has been inhabited for a long time, although its early history is obscure. The first evident inhabitants were the Turduli Oppidani, a Celtiberian tribe akin to the Lusitanians, who established a settlement near around 7 km present-day Leiria. This settlement was later occupied by the Romans, who expanded it under the original Celtiberian name Collippo. The stones of the ancient Roman town were used in the Middle Ages to build much of Leiria.