A crossroads called Tamosa

Tamosa, a major city located in central Portugal, more specifically on the country's Silver Coast (Costa de Prata), between Lisbon and Porto and forming the western edge of a diamond region with Aveiro to its north, Coimbra to its east and Leiria to its south, is situated at the confluence of the River Mondego (or Myndus) into the Atlantic Ocean and the Prismaia Strait (Estreito da Prismaia). The city's main area spans from the Portuguese mainland to Prismaia Island on that island's westernmost point, Baleia Point (Ponta da Baleia). It is also home to the remote offshoot islands west of Baleia Point known as the Mayar Islands (also known simply as the Mayares). The city's inhabitants are referred to as many demonyms, among them Tamosis (singular: Tamosi), Tamosans (singular: Tamosan), Tamasians (singular: Tamasian), Tamosiots (singular: Tamosiot), Tamasiots (singular: Tamasiot), Tamosiats (singular: Tamosiat), or Tamasiats (singular: Tamasiat) and, in Portuguese, tamosienses (singular: tamosiense). Originally built on seven hills, Tamosa is now built on many more.

Geographically, Tamosa is positioned on the western end of the Mondego Delta, which provides it direct access to the World Ocean through the Atlantic Ocean. The city comprises seven regions:

• Central Tamosa, comprising of Figuayre Daphoy (translated into Portuguese as Figueira da Foz, its downtown known for being a major riviera destination) on the mainland and Maravela (its downtown touching Figuayre Daphoy's across the strait, also being known for being a major riviera destination) on Prismaia Island.
• West Tamosa, home to most of Prismaia Island (i.e., minus Maravela)—including the modern districts of Xaena and Xandai, the latter where Baleia Point is located.
• The remote Mayar Islands (Ilhas Maiares in Portuguese), a mix of island tourism with neighbourhoods of their own (the Pearl island group), heavy industry and energy (the Daimara island group), space (the Noimara island group), and the military (the Naiuara island group), with the archipelago, some of which with lands well below sea level, some of which flat, some of which hilly and some of which mountainous, being a major agricultural powerhouse and home to the gigantic Daimara power generation and energy research complex that includes but is not limited to what is by far the world's largest nuclear power plant, located on the namesake Daimara island group.
• North Tamosa, known for its extensive beaches and vast flatlands, as well as Mount Yaja (also spelled Iaja in Portuguese), the city's highest mountain, and the long, steep and curvaceous Great Wall of Balambar within the immense Balambar Castle and Citadel.
• East Tamosa, known for its salt ponds and rice fields, as well as for the ancient Karankar cave paintings, petrographs, petroglyphs, sculpted rock reliefs and geoglyphs.
• South Tamosa, known for its coastal fishing neighbourhoods, as well as the exuberant Great Lake Palace (Grande Palácio do Lago).
• Southeast Tamosa, home to Honguelai, an expansion of the city towards the southeast.

Tamosa, a place inhabited uninterruptedly since the very earliest of all prehistory, holds historical significance as the birthplace and capital of Maritesia—a cradle of civilisation—and the Atlantic end of the Silk Road, although it had endured significant challenges over time that had led to a series of massive exoduses resulting in a huge Maritese diaspora that had eventually spread worldwide. Nevertheless, Tamosa has kept its enormous importance throughout its entire timeline from prehistory to the present day: a huge palimpsest city.

Post-Roman Tamosa went through various ups and downs, first as a Byzantine exclave (during which the city was known again as Tamasia, due to Greek influence), then under under Suebi, Alan and Visigothic rule, then as part of the Umayyad Caliphate and later the influential Sultanate of Tamosa, which allowed a first Maritese revival, interrupted by a series of military campaigns during the Crusades. During later mediaeval times, Tamosa, undergoing a second Maritese revival, was a very important city-state—a prosperous republic of its own—of the Xayandic League, a multilingual, multicultural commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns across the namesake Xayandic Ring in the Atlantic Ocean that had autonomy within the early Kingdom of Portugal—with which quite often had a very tense relationship—and traded heavily with its counterpart in the North and Baltic Seas, the Hanseatic League. The city had continued to be immensely important during the whole period of the Age of Sail, undergoing a third Maritese revival, until the mid-eighteenth century threatened to reduce Tamosa to near-nothingness, first by the side effects of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami (even though Tamosa withstood both the earthquake and the tsunami better than Lisbon) and later by the Great Fire of Tamosa in 1766, in which three-quarters of the city were seriously damaged on both sides of the Prismaia Strait. Tamosa felt humiliated, but did it barely knew how big of a recovery it would be for the city.

During the industrial revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries, in a fourth Maritese revival and to enhance its ancient role as a crossroads and its place in the Maritese imaginary, Tamosa undertook an ambitious expansion project. The mala-posta route, named after an important mail-carriage service connecting two major cities in between, Lisbon and Porto, bypassed Tamosa. To overcome this setback, the city expanded its borders southeastwards to what is now Honguelai, purchasing lands from neighbouring municipalities.

Note: The third map, of Tamosa, does not include the city's remote Mayar Islands.

Over time, this expansion proved fruitful, positioning Tamosa as a pivotal hub along the main roads (incl. motorways) and railways (incl. high-speed railways) linking Lisbon and Porto, among several other important locations in Portugal—a country over 4 million km² (1.55 million sq mi) in total area (i.e., the land and the sea within)—*, and multiple cities abroad. The enormous Tamosa Honguelai passenger railway station, the largest in the country, features 32 platforms, and is one the busiest railway stations in the world, fully integrated, as part of the Honguelai intermodal hub, with Honguelai's immense bus station, as well as with Honguelai's massive dry port, one of the world's largest such hubs, and the city's huge supply market, which works together the city's huge wholesale markets, retail parks and outlet malls, among all the other retail formats. Besides, Tamosa boasts a massive public transport system, which includes but is not limited to: buses; trolleybuses; busways; trams; cable cars; light rails; ferries; funiculars; elevators; aerial lifts; helicopters, with a big heliport network all across the city; maglevs; monorails; metros; and commuter railways.

These transportation advancements spurred Tamosa's rapid growth, surpassing all other Portuguese cities in terms of population and area. The city regained its status as Portugal's largest and busiest port, with the thriving Havenai Seaport offering deepwater access for maritime activities and trade. Accompanying the port is the massive Havenai Airport, one of the world's busiest airports, solidifying Tamosa as a major global transport hub. Additionally, Tamosa established the Noimara/Havenai Spaceport, an advanced offshore facility on the Noimara island group (part of the Mayar archipelago) enabling space exploration and satellite launches.

To facilitate seamless transportation across the city, Tamosa boasts various infrastructure projects, such as:

• The eyecatching Prismaia Bridge (above) spans more than 4 km (2½ mi), over 2 km (1¼ mi) of which across the namesake Prismaia Strait through a suspension bridge section, linking the mainland with the also namesake Prismaia Island.
• The city-centre Anel Gallery Tunnels, which cross the northern meeting point of the Prismaia Strait with the open Atlantic Ocean and are part of a ring-shaped undersea city (the Anel Gallery City) linking Maravela with Figuayre Daphoy.
• The Leirosa Tunnel, which crosses the Prismaia Strait from Leirosa in southern mainland Tamosa to Prismaia Island.

Prismaia Island, in turn, connects to the Mayar Islands westwards through the Ocean Links. These links include: the magnificent Pearl Bridge (or Ponte das Pérolas) (below, top), a huge suspension bridge + tunnel system totalling over 40 km (25 mi) in length, featuring service areas midway across its length, that serves as the northern link between Prismaia Island and the Mayar Islands; the impressive Xandai Bridge (or Ponte Xandai) (below, bottom), the longest bridge in Europe, a gigantic cable-stayed bridge also featuring service areas midway across its length, as well as Y-shaped spans, a grand structure over 50 km (32 mi) long (aggregate) built to create a southern link from Prismaia Island to the Mayar Islands; and the Mayar Links, a series of long bridges, long tunnels, and long bridge–tunnels linking each of the Mayares to one another and beyond.

All of these aforementioned bridges and tunnels carry both road and rail.

And thus, with its comprehensive road, rail, sea, air and space networks, Tamosa has solidified its position as a thriving metropolis, serving as the largest city in Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula. And, above all, it is a top crossroads to the world.

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* Geographical description of Portugal:

• The mainland, comprising of territory in the Iberian Peninsula (shared by a land border with Spain), and the Talabar Islands (also known as the Talabares for short, part of the Maghreb, shared by a land border with Morocco, with the crescent between Sagres and Tangier dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea).
• Five archipelagos (part of Macaronesia):
• The Nascent (Eastern) Islands: the Baryves (north); and Madeira (south).
• The Ponent (Western) Islands: the Singamares (northeast); the Azores (west); and the Havamayas (south).