Paço de Arcos (ˈpasu ˈdaɾkus is a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 (Freguesias) in Oeiras, Portugal

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...

. With an area of 3,49 km², 28 000 inhabitants (2001) and population density of 3 390,5 hab/km². It was elevated to town by a decree at December 7, 1926.

Its name comes from the Palace of the Arches located at the entrance to the village (coming from 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...

), where king D. Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

 watched Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...

's caravels leave for India. Nowadays, the Portuguese maritime academy - Escola Náutica Infante D. Henrique - is based there. It's also the base of the private business jet company NetJets Europe

NetJets Europe

- History :NetJets Europe, also known by its corporate legal name, NetJets Transportes Aéreos, S.A., was founded in 1996 as a sister company of NetJets in the United States. In 2002 Mark Booth, the man who brought MTV to Europe and the former CEO of BSkyB, became the company’s Chairman and CEO...

.

Paço de Arcos is where Quinta da Fonte is located, one of the biggest office parks in Europe, being the home of companies such as General Electric

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

, Hewlett Packard, Intel, among others.