Albardeiros

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Albardeiros
coat of arms map
Albardeiros does not have a coat of arms
Albardeiros (Portugal)
Albardeiros
Basic data
Region : Centro
Sub-region : Beiras e Serra da Estrela
District : Guarda
Concelho : Guarda
Freguesia : Vale de Estrela
Coordinates : 40 ° 28 ′  N , 7 ° 18 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 28 ′  N , 7 ° 18 ′  W

Albardeiros is a small village with about 10 inhabitants in the municipality of Vale de Estrela in the mountains of the Serra da Estrela in Portugal . In the vernacular, the place name is nos albardeiros ( Portuguese for saddlers ). After the place still had over 50 inhabitants decades ago, the number sank to 5 in 2009. In this context, the remote place and its over-aged inhabitants are occasionally reported nationwide.

The village, nos Albardeiros

geography

Natural space

View from Albardeiros

Albardeiros lies on the southern spur of a granite plateau of the Serra da Estrela , which reaches from Guarda , and is at an altitude of about 850 m above sea level. NN. From the village the view opens over the Cova da Beira , a fertile plain through which the Zézere flows, with the medieval fortress town of Belmonte and the Serra da Gardunha on the horizon. The Serra da Estrela belongs to the Iberian Scheidegebirge . The brooks that feed Albardeiros with water flow into the brook of Santo Amaro and drain over the Zêzere and Tejo into the Atlantic .

Administration and location

Albardeiros is the only expansion of the municipality ( freguesia ) Vale de Estrela , district ( concelho ) Guarda and district Guarda in Portugal . The Serra da Estrela Natural Park (PNSE) is two kilometers away.

The neighboring communities are Aldeia do Bispo, 4 km away, and Vela, which is similarly distant .

Proximity to Spain

The border with Spain is 50 kilometers to the east . The Portuguese border region is therefore covered by fortress towns like Belmonte and Guarda , which can also be explored on hiking trails and themed routes, such as the Aldeias Históricas de Portugal or the places of the Rede de Judiarias , which are characterized by their Jewish past.

In Albardeiros, Spanish radio and television can be received by antenna.

geology

In Albardeiros and the surrounding area, the granite of Covilhã is on the agenda . All around, in Guarda , Vale de Estrela , Seixo Amarelo and Gonçalo , however, there is granite from Seia . The buildings in Albardeiros are sunk into the rock and built from the 60 to 90 centimeter thick granite blocks obtained in this way. The landscape around Albardeiros is characterized by granite and its rock formations.

economy

one of three donkeys in Albardeiros

In Albardeiros, subsistence farming traditionally dominates . The residents today live largely on old-age pensions and farm as a sideline. Farming and horticulture are practiced on the specially laid out terraces in front of the village. Terraces further away become overgrown due to rural exodus . A shepherd with his approx. 20 goats ensures that the paths and the commons are kept open by browsing. There are also three donkeys, a cow, chickens, a pig, cats and a dog. The dog in the picture is a mixed breed of Cão Serra da Estrela and St. Bernard . The sweet chestnut , cherry (see cherries from Fundão ) and peach are important cultivated trees. A side income is the sale of goat cheese, which is made from unpasteurized goat milk, cardo ( cynara cardunculus ) and salt.

There are no public or private institutions of commerce or administration in the place. The village is supplied by dealers who use delivery trucks to serve the villages in the district. A baker sells bread here on Tuesdays and Fridays, and a grocer offers his goods on Wednesdays (as of July 2008).

Tourism takes place here only through hikers or occasionally through a youth group from other villages in the district. There are no restaurants or hotels here (as of July 2008).

Sweet chestnut

The sweet chestnut is a particularly important tree for the local economy. A museum has therefore been dedicated to her in the neighboring municipality of Aldeia do Bispo . The sweet chestnut is used as a fruit, either roasted, as chestnut puree or in soup, as a raw material for chestnut baskets and as construction timber. In the area around Albardeiros you can see some burned chestnut trunks, some of which are sprouting again. In Aldeia do Bispo a new plantation of sweet chestnuts was created.

flora

Outside the terraces, white Spanish gorse ( Cytisus multiflorus ) has dominated since the forest fire of August 7, 2003 . This is associated with lavender ( Lavandula stoechas ) and yellow Portuguese gorse ( Cytisus striatus ). The Spanish gorse blooms from March to April, the Portuguese gorse then in May. Both gorse are cut and used as fuel or litter and then as dung. They also serve as a forage crop for donkeys, goats and bees. Without human influence, a Mediterranean oak forest would emerge as a climax society . Solitary pines and shards of resin collecting pots are evidence of the former pine plantations.

Rare plant

Wild dwarf daffodils grow in the vicinity of Albardeiros, among others. a. the angel's tears daffodil (Narcissus triandrus) .

fauna

Birds

Wolf and lynx

The wolf has not been seen since the 1980s and was probably cut off permanently from the Serra da Estrela by the construction of the A23 motorway . The same applies to the Iberian lynx , which may still be found wild in the Serra da Malcata .

Reptiles

coat of arms

Albardeiros does not have its own coat of arms. The coat of arms of the municipality of Vale de Estrela (Portuguese valley of the star analogous to Serra da Estrela , Portuguese star mountains ) shows a green valley, a blue star on a yellow background and above a weaving ship that refers to the former importance of textile production ( rota da lã ).

Worth seeing

In Albardeiros

  • Townscape
  • landscape

In the neighborhood

Recreation

traffic

Street

Albardeiros has no paved road connection. From Aldeia do Bispo , located on the N18 , a four-kilometer-long, easily navigable gravel road leads to the village. The approach via Vela , also a four-kilometer gravel road, is more dependent on the weather. After Vale de Estrela , the associated community, leads traditionally only on foot (about an hour). The core of the settlement is inaccessible to car traffic. However, it can be parked at the entrance to the village.

The next motorway exits are junction 34 (Guarda) or 35 (Benespera) of the A23 motorway .

Distances
  • to Porto Airport (OPO): 225 kilometers (203 kilometers of which are motorway)
  • to Lisbon Airport (LIS): 319 kilometers (295 kilometers of which are motorway)
  • to Valladolid Airport (VLL, Spain): 296 kilometers (262 kilometers of which are motorway)

train

The nearest railway stations of the Portuguese Railways are Sabugal, Benespera, Belmonte-Manteigas and Covilhã on the Linha da Beira Baixa railway line , and Guarda on the Linha da Beira Alta . In Guarda there is also a connection to long-distance traffic, such as long-distance trains to Spain and France, or the long-established Sud-Express night train to Paris. The journey on the Linha da Beira Baixa railway line along the Tejo , with sights such as B. Almourol Castle and Portas de Rodão .

media

Cellular

Albardeiros has excellent cell phone reception.

landline

Albardeiros is connected to the fixed telephone network.

Television and radio

Both Portuguese and Spanish television and radio can be received via antenna.

Maps

  • Sheet 214 of the Carta Militar de Portugal M888

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article about Albardeiros from May 25th, 2009  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the daily newspaper Diário de Notícias , accessed on April 21, 2014@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.dn.pt  
  2. ↑ a b Article of July 24, 2008 about the village of Albardeiros ( Memento of the original of April 21, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Jornal A Guarda newspaper , accessed April 22, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jornalaguarda.com