Serra da Estrela () is the highest
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...
in
Continental Portugal
Continental Portugal ( pt, Portugal continental, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in Continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and ...
. Together with the Serra da Lousã it is the westernmost constituent range of the
Sistema Central
The Central System, Spanish and pt, Sistema Central, is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. The 2,592 m high Pico Almanzor is its highest summit.
The Central System is located just north of the 40th parallel a ...
and also one of the highest in the system. It includes
mainland Portugal
Continental Portugal ( pt, Portugal continental, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in Continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and 9 ...
's highest point at above mean sea level (although the summit of
Mount Pico in the Portuguese
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
islands is higher). This point is not a distinctive mountain summit, but rather the highest point in a plateau, being known as
Torre ("Tower" in English). Torre is an unusual summit in that it is accessible by a paved road. The peak has a
topographic prominence
In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...
of and its
parent peak is
Pico Almanzor
Pico Almanzor is the highest mountain in central Spain. Situated in the Sierra de Gredos in the province of Ávila, Almanzor is high. It is made of granite. The mountain is also known as ''Pico de Almanzor'' and ''Moro Almanzor''.
History
The mo ...
, in Spain.
The mountain range, situated between the municipalities of
Seia,
Manteigas,
Gouveia,
Guarda and
Covilhã
Covilhã () is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 34,772 inhabitants in 2001. The municipality population in 2011 was 51,797, in an area of . It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and ...
, is about long and is across at its widest point. It is formed from a huge
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
ridge that once formed the southern frontier of the country.
Rivers
There are three rivers that have their headwaters in the Serra da Estrela: the
Mondego, which is the longest river entirely within Portuguese territory; and the
Zêzere, which is a tributary of the
Tagus
The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...
; a tributary of the Mondego, the
Alva also has its headwaters in the range.
It is high.
Nature Park
The mountain range is now part of the
Serra da Estrela Natural Park and offers
skiing
Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...
opportunities in the
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...
of
Loriga,
Seia Municipality.
Serra da Estrela dog
The
Cão da Serra da Estrela (''Estrela Mountain Dog'') is a breed of
livestock guardian dog that takes its name from this region.
Serra da Estrela sheep and cheese
''
Queijo Serra da Estrela'' (Serra da Estrela cheese) is a soft
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...
from the region of Serra da Estrela. The recipe is more than 2000 years old. It is made from cardoon thistle, raw sheep's milk and salt. The cheese is soft and gooey. The cheese becomes harder and chewier as time goes by. The region's ancient ''bordaleira'' sheep are also prized for their wool.
Cuisine
The region's cuisine is well-regarded and includes dishes such as breaded sweet
sardines and Juniper
beef stew. Smoked meat (fumeiro) and traditional sausages (enchidos) are in abundance, the nettle sausage (alheira de urtiga) among them. Though the region has a very small local Jewish population, it has emerged as a center for
Kosher food, with local producers launching kosher versions of their
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...
,
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
and cheesemakers obtaining
kosher certification for some products.
The Conchos dam
The Serra da Estrela is also home to a hydroelectric system of dams, part of which is the
Covão dos Conchos. The Covão dos Conchos looks like a natural sinkhole within the lake at first glance, but it was constructed as a
spillway in 1955 and acts as a water diversion from Ribeira das Naves to Lagoa Comprida.
History, legends and myths
A legend associated with the mountain is mentioned in chapter 41 of the American literary classic,
Moby-Dick:
:''"... the prodigies related in old times of the inland Strello mountain in Portugal (near whose top there was said to be a lake in which the wrecks of ships floated up to the surface)..."''
Archaeological investigations have allowed a picture of life during the fifth millennium BC, the
Early Neolithic to emerge, where small communities sustained themselves by small game hunting, the gathering of acorn and other winter fruits, and migratory pastoralism. The raising of sheep and goats, introduced to the region by the first Neolithic settlers - suggests that spring and summer were spent on high ground pastures and winter on the lower grounds of the river valleys. The significance of the Serra da Estrela in Neolithic culture can be seen in the discovery that
megaliths
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
The ...
in the
Mondego River basin were predominantly built with an alignment that allowed the mountain range to be seen from within the inner chamber. At the same time the rise of
Aldebaran
Aldebaran (Arabic: “The Follower”, "الدبران") is the brightest star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. It has the Bayer designation α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Aldeba ...
, the brightest star of
Taurus, behind the mountains could also be seen and its
Heliacal rising
The heliacal rising ( ) or star rise of a star occurs annually, or the similar phenomenon of a planet, when it first becomes visible above the eastern horizon at dawn just before sunrise (thus becoming "the morning star") after a complete orbit o ...
in late April/early May could have been used as a temporal marker for the movement to the high pastures of Serra da Estrela. This archaeological narrative closely mirrors the local folklore that explains the name of the mountain range.
See also
*
Geography of Portugal
Portugal is a coastal nation in western Europe, located at the western end of the Iberian Peninsula, bordering Spain (on its northern and eastern frontiers: a total of ). The Portuguese territory also includes a series of archipelagos in the Atl ...
*
Serra da Estrela Ski Resort
Serra da Estrela Ski Resort ( pt, Estância de Esqui da Serra da Estrela) is a ski resort located in a mountain range named Serra da Estrela, in the municipality of Seia, parish (''freguesia'') of Loriga, Portugal.
Description
This small ski reso ...
References
External links
Serra da Estrela´s DogArticle by Cátia Pinheiro in Accessible Travel Magazine, January 2007
The ultimate stargazing road trip on BBC
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