Serra da Estrela
| Serra da Estrela | ||
|---|---|---|
 The Serra da Estrela from the southeast |
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| Highest peak | Torre ( 1993 m ) | |
| location | Guarda District , Portugal | |
| part of | Iberian Divisional Mountains | |
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| Coordinates | 40 ° 19 ′ N , 7 ° 37 ′ W | |
| rock | granite | |
| particularities | Highest mountain range on the Portuguese mainland | |
The Serra da Estrela ( Portuguese for Star Mountains ) is the westernmost part of the Iberian Divide Mountains and with a height of up to 1993 m the highest mountain range on the Portuguese mainland. The core area of the mountain today is the natural park Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela and is home to the only ski resort in Portugal.
geography
Location and surroundings
The Serra da Estrela rises in the east of central Portugal in the statistical sub-region Serra da Estrela , which is part of the Guarda district and the Castelo Branco district in the Região Centro region . The most important places in the area around the mountains are Covilhã and Belmonte in the southeast, Seia in the northwest and Manteigas in the northeast. Further to the northeast, the foothills of the Serra da Estrela extend into Guarda, about 40 kilometers from the highest peaks .
summit
The mountain range is essentially formed by two high plateaus, which are separated in a south-south-west-north-north-east direction by the valleys Alforfa in the south and Zêzere in the north and sloping down to the south-east and north-west with steep flanks into the plains about 1000 meters below. The larger western plateau extends from about 1450 m to the Torre ( 1993 m ), the highest mountain on mainland Portugal. The eastern plateau reaches heights between 1450 and 1760 meters.
Other important peaks are:
- Cantaro Magro ( 1928 m )
- Cantaro Raso ( 1916 m )
- Alto da Pedrice ( 1759 m )
- Polos Brancos ( 1704 m )
- Fraga des Penas ( 1658 m )
- Navo de Sanio ( 1541 m )
- Curral da Nave ( 1457 m )
Waters
The rivers Mondego , Zêzere and Ceira have their source in the Serra da Estrela .
geology
Geologically, the Serra da Estrela is dominated by an approximately 300 million year old Hercynian granite . This granite intruded into low grade, greenschist facies metamorphism metamorphic overprinted, mainly turbiditisch resulting sedimentary rocks of Precambrian and Cambrian time. These rocks are schist and greywacke , which are lithostratigraphically divided into two formations . The Malpica do Tejo formation consists of metamorphically shaped greywacke, conglomerates and phyllites . The Rosmaninhal Formation consists mainly of phyllites and some layers of metamorphic greywacke. In the area of about one kilometer around the granite body, there was also a contact metamorphosis with horn rock formation in the sediments . The granite itself is largely porphyry , coarse-grained, biotite and muscovite granite . Sometimes granodiorite , which is similar to granite but richer in plagioclase, occurs.
The sediments were originally folded NW-SE before they were deformed by a hercynian fault system in NE-SW and NE-SSW directions, i.e. roughly at right angles to the original fold axes . In the Mesozoic and Cenozoic the Hercynian Mountains were eroded. Due to the alpine mountain formation , the Hercynian disturbances were reactivated by compression and a step-shaped nest architecture was formed .
In addition to the 300 million year old plutonites and the even older sediments, alluvial deposits, i.e. deposits from streams and rivers, as well as Quaternary glacial deposits are taking on significant dimensions. The signs of glacial overprinting are striking : For the southern location and low altitude of the mountains, strong signs of glacier-related erosion can be seen. Most of these signs come from the Würm Ice Age , which lasted from about 115,000 to 10,000 years before today, although smaller glaciations are likely to have survived long afterwards.
climate
The climate in the Serra da Estrela is mostly Mediterranean , but also characterized by the characteristics of the temperate climatic zones . Summers are dry and warm, with most rainfall from October to May. The annual rainfall is up to 2500 millimeters, with the rainfall on the west side being slightly lower, although there are more rainy days here. The average annual temperature on the summit plateaus is around 4 ° C. At these altitudes, i.e. at 1400 to 1600 meters, there is snowfall on around 40 to 50 days a year, with large annual fluctuations. However, a continuous snow cover is usually only found for a few weeks a year. The main wind directions are west and northwest.
vegetation
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The vegetation of the Serra does not show any significant elevation levels , as the individual vegetation zones are mixed up due to different exposure, availability of water and human use. In the lower regions of the mountains, evergreen Mediterranean deciduous forests, particularly characterized by the holm oak , form the natural vegetation. However, this was often destroyed by numerous forest fires . But also clearing and subsequent overgrazing , as well as intensive agricultural use, contributed to the destruction of this plant community, which today can only be found in small isolated occurrences. Overall, this zone is now dominated by grassland, up to a height of 900 meters, almost the entire area is cultivated. The central regions are naturally dominated by the Pyrenees oak , the European yew is also native here. This vegetation zone is also largely destroyed today and only exists in fragments. The higher altitudes are characterized by forest pine forests and bush vegetation such as juniper bushes . In the rocky summit regions, meadows made of frost-tolerant grasses are the natural vegetation, and many pioneer plants can be found here. Often, however, the soil is no longer covered by earth at all due to erosion, and large parts of the summit plateaus are characterized by adjacent rock .
fauna
Apart from the numerous farm animals, especially the numerous sheep, wild boars , wild cats and otters are the most important representatives of the mammal fauna, wolf and lynx were probably already extinct in the 1980s. A specialty of the reptile fauna is the Iberian mountain lizard , whose subspecies Iberolacerta monticola monticola is endemic here .
Natural park
The natural park Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela (PNSE) having a surface area of about 1000 square kilometers nearly all solid and is the largest protected area of Portugal. It was founded by the Portuguese government in 1976 and is administered by the six member municipalities of Seia , Gouveia , Celorico da Beira , Guarda , Manteigas and Covilhã . Since 1999, a large part of the park has also had the status of a Natura 2000 area . Visitor centers are located in Manteigas, Seia, Gouveia and Guarda.
economy
Traditional economic factors in the Serra da Estrela are honey , the cheese Queijo Serra da Estrela and the shepherd dog Cão da Serra da Estrela , which is bred here. For a long time the abundant sheep wool was processed in the region. This branch of industry had meanwhile lost a lot of its importance, but is now enjoying increasing attention again. Apart from agriculture, tourism is becoming a significant source of income. Several reservoirs in the Serra da Estrela supply the surrounding cities with drinking water and electricity.
Development for tourism
The Serra da Estrela is well developed for tourism. Since the 19th century it has been used for spa stays, especially for rehabilitation for tuberculosis . Some of the spa centers established at that time are still in operation today. The Torre can be reached on an asphalt driveway. In addition, there is a dense network of marked hiking trails that extends over a total of around 357 kilometers. While most of the peaks are easily accessible for hikers, others, such as Cantaro Magro, have climbing routes of varying difficulty . Ice and mixed climbing is even possible here in winter .
The area around the peak of Torre is the only one in Portugal that has been developed for winter sports, and the highest peak of the mountain itself can also be reached by lift. There are a total of four ski lifts here, there are nine slopes with a total length of around eight kilometers.
The research facility CISE ( Centro de Interpretação da Serra da Estrela ) is located in Seia and offers visitors a virtual multimedia permanent exhibition on the Serra da Estrela. It is one of the two venues of the annual environmental film festival CineEco , the Festival Internacional de Cinema Ambiental da Serra da Estrela, which has been held annually since 1995 .
literature
- G. Vieira, J. Jansen, N. Ferreira: Environmental setting of the Serra da Estrela, Portugal: a short note . In: Landscape ecology series . ( online [PDF; accessed on November 21, 2009]).
Web links
- All about the Serra da Estrela on portugalholidayhome.net
- Serra da Estrela on Summitpost.org
- Serra da Estrela on pan.cultland.org
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c G. Vieira, J. Jansen, N. Ferreira: Environmental setting of the Serra da Estrela, Portugal: a short note . In: Landscape ecology series . ( online [PDF; accessed on November 21, 2009]).
- ↑ a b c d e f Serra da Estrela on Summitpost.org
- ↑ Jorge Espinha Marques et al. a .: Vadose zone characterization of a hydrogeologic system in a mountain region: Serra da Estrela case study (Central Portugal) PDF file ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Serra da Estrela ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on pan.cultland.org
- ↑ Serra da Estrela Ski Resort Guide. snow-forecast.com, accessed December 11, 2014 .
- ↑ CISE homepage ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 22, 2012
