6 de Novembro

 

Neve na Serra da Estrela. Snow on Serra da Estrela.

Nevou esta noite na Serra da Estrela. It snowed tonight in Serra da Estrela.

Serra da Estrela, located in the Central region (Região das Beiras), designates the mountain range where the highest altitudes in mainland Portugal are located. Its highest point, at 1993 metres above sea level and called Torre, makes it the second highest mountain in Portugal[2] (only Pico Mountain in the Azores surpasses it by 358 metres[3]). It is part of the largest mountain range called the Central System, in the subsystem known as the Montejunto-Estrela mountain system, which develops in a southwest-northeast direction from the Montejunto mountain range, and its parent summit is the Pico de Almançor. Serra da Estrela is a landscape area integrated in the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, which after its constitution on July 16, 1976 was established as the largest protected area on Portuguese soil.

In addition to the snow, the extraordinary fauna and flora, the traveler is also attracted by the orography of colossal proportions (see p.e. Cântaro Magro) as well as by the human, cultural, historical and gastronomic richness of the region. The mountain range is also rich from a hydrological point of view, numerous water lines flow from this massif. Four rivers rise in Serra da Estrela: the Mondego River; the Zêzere River; — that 200 km downstream is a tributary of the Tagus River; the Alva River — which pays tribute to the Mondego River — and the Alvôco River, all of them born from the same Serra. They benefit two of the three largest river basins in the country: Mondego and Tejo — and without realizing it, every day, the inhabitants of Lisbon and Coimbra enjoy and depend on the water coming from Serra da Estrela. 

Territory 

Serra da Estrela is located mostly in the district of Guarda (85% of its area; 74,529.3 hectares), and also has a small area in the district of Castelo Branco...

Sculpture of Our Lady of the Good Star carved in the granite rock.

Serra da Estrela covered in snow.

Ribeira do Swamp

The natural waterfall of the Hell's Well