a town of Portugal, capital of a cognominal administration, in Estremadura, is situated in a fertile valley on the right bank of the Liz, at its junction with the Lena, 75 miles N. by E. of Lisbon, and 15 miles from the Atlantic. An old castle, founded in the twelfth century, occupies a commanding position on a rock in the centre of the town. Leiria is the see of a bishop, and contains a cathedral of comparatively modern date, several churches and convents, besides a college, an hospital, and small theatre. The chief articles of trade are glass and fine timber, the former being manufactured largely in the adjacent village of Marinha, while the latter is brought from the extensive forests in the neighbourhood. There are some warm and medicinal springs near the town. At Leiria, in 1466, the first printing-press in the Peninsula was set in motion. The poet Rodriguez Lobo was born here about the middle of the sixteenth century. In July 1808, the town was seized by the French under General Margarot, after a feeble resistance, and many atrocities committed. Pop. about 3000.