AVEIRO  , a seaport, episcopal see, and the

capital of an administrative district, formerly included in the province of Beira, Portugal; on the river Vouga, and the Lisbon-Oporto railway . Pop . (1900) 9979• Aveiro is built on the southern shore of a marshy lagoon, containing many small islands, and measuring about 15 M. from north to south, with an average breadth of about r m . The Barra Nova, an artificial canal about 33 ft. deep, was constructed between 1801 and 1808, and gives access to the Atlantic ocean . The local industries include the preparation of sea-salt, the catching and curing of fish, especially sardines and oysters, and the gathering of aquatic plants (make) . There is also a brisk trade in wine, oil and fruit; while the Aveiro district contains copper and lead mines, besides much good pasture-land . Aveiro is probably the Roman Talabriga . In the 16th century it was the birthplace of Joao Affonso, one of the first navigators to visit the fishing-grounds of Newfoundland; and it soon became famous for its fleet of more than sixty vessels, which sailed yearly to that country, and returned laden with dried codfish . During the same century the cathedral was built, and the city was made a duchy . The title " duke of Aveiro "became extinct when its last holder, Dom Jose Mascarenhas e Lancaster, was burned alive for high treason, in 1759 . The administrative district of Aveiro coincides with the north-western part of the province of Beira; pop . (1900) 303,169; area, ro65 sq. m .