Poveiro boat; the flag was plain red. The population did not accept these new symbols and years later the old ones would be restored. Cityscape Urban morphology Located in the coastal plain between the sea and hills, the city of Póvoa de Varzim has eleven Partes (parts), or districts. These districts are, in turn, part of two formal administrative structures known as freguesias (civil parishes): U.F. Póvoa de Varzim, Beiriz e Argivai and U.F. Aver-o-Mar, Amorim e Terroso. To the south, the city is extending out to combine with Vila do Conde. The city started from an inland town that extended to the coast. The Bairro da Matriz, whose nucleus was the centre from whence the city grew, is intersected by 14th century narrow and twisted streets lined by single-family homes. The historical district has old buildings such as the sixteenth-century house in front of Matriz Church — the main church, the old Town Hall (14th century), the seventeenth-century Solar dos Carneiros and the house of Captain Leite Ferreira, and the eighteenth century Limas and the Coentrão Houses. The fishermen were grouped in the south coast, around Póvoa Cove (Enseada da Póvoa); The fisher district was already developed in the 18th century with its structure of narrow streets parallel to the coast. Póvoa de Varzim City Centre or Centro is dominated by the service sector and by the shopping streets of Junqueira and Mousinho de Albuquerque Avenue. Praça do Almada, the central square, is tipped by City Hall, municipal departments, banks and other services. In the middle of the square, to the west, the Manueline pillory of Póvoa de Varzim stands. The Pelourinho, granted to the town in 1514, is a national monument representing the municipal emancipation of Póvoa de Varzim. Bairro Norte, the beach district, is north of town and is densely occupied. Continuous to this area, the Agro-Velho beach district, mostly known as Nova Póvoa, is the area of the city with most high-rises, the largest of which the Nova Póvoa, with 30 floors and high, complete in 1979, was the tallest building in Portugal until the year 2000 and is still today one of the five tallest buildings. Close at hand, Barreiros and Parque da Cidade are districts from the latest expansion. Inland, Giesteira, derived from the old village of Giesteira that, with Argivai, formed the main nucleus of the settlement before the 14th century, and whose