Tagus

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Tagus / Tejo
Cours du Tage.png
Data
location Spain , Portugal
River system Tagus
source Fuente García
40 ° 19 ′ 15 ″  N , 1 ° 41 ′ 50 ″  W.
Source height approx.  1627  msnm
muzzle in Lisbon in the Atlantic Coordinates: 38 ° 40 ′ 13 ″  N , 9 ° 17 ′ 16 ″  W 38 ° 40 ′ 13 ″  N , 9 ° 17 ′ 16 ″  W
Mouth height 0  msnm
Height difference approx. 1627 m
Bottom slope approx. 1.6 ‰
length 1007 km
Catchment area 80,600 km²
Left tributaries Guadiela , Algodor , Ibor , Almonte , Salor
Right tributaries Alberche , Alagón , Erges , Jarama , Guadarrama , Ocreza , Pônsul , Tiétar , Trancão , Zêzere
Big cities Lisbon
Medium-sized cities Aranjuez , Toledo , Talavera de la Reina , Santarém
Residents in the catchment area approx. 9,500,000
Tajo near Toledo, Spain

Tajo near Toledo, Spain

The Tajo ( span. ) And Tagus ( port. ; Ancient name Tagus ) flows in an east-west direction by Spain and Portugal and has about 1007 km the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula .

Catchment area of ​​the Tagus / Tejo on the Iberian Peninsula
Alcántara Bridge near the Spanish-Portuguese border
Torre de Belém near Lisbon

course

The Tagus rises at the source of the Fuente García in the Montes Universales mountains near the town of Frías de Albarracín ( Province of Teruel ) at an altitude of about 1600 m. It flows first in a north-west direction, then in a south-west and west direction - through the landscape of the Alcarria and around 40 km south of Madrid - through the Spanish cities of Aranjuez , Toledo , Talavera de la Reina and Alcántara as well as through the Portuguese city of Santarém . After about 816 kilometers of river, the Tagus forms the border between Spain and Portugal over a length of about 48 km . It then flows through Portugal for another 145 km and finally flows into the Atlantic at Lisbon .

Catchment area

The catchment area of the Tagus covers a total of approx. 80,600 km², of which 69.2% (55,810 km²) are in the Spanish regions of Aragon , Castile-La Mancha , Madrid and Extremadura and 30.8% in Portugal (24,790 km²). In 2005, around 6.1 million people lived in the Spanish part, and almost 3.5 million in the Portuguese part. On the Iberian Peninsula, only the Duero with 97,290 km² and the Ebro with 85,362 km² have larger catchment areas.

Important tributaries

right
Left
  • Guadiela , approx. 115 km in length
  • Algodor , approx. 55 km in length
  • Ibor , approx. 60 km in length
  • Almonte , approx. 97 km in length
  • Salor , approx. 120 km in length

There is a canal and an aqueduct between the Rio Tajo and the Río Segura , the Tajo-Segura Canal .

Buildings and sights

bridges

The largest bridge over the river is the Vasco da Gama Bridge ( Ponte Vasco da Gama ) with a total length of 17.2 km. It is the longest bridge in Europe. The Roman Puente de Alcántara and the medieval Puente de San Martín in Toledo are much older . Other Tajo bridges are the Spanish Puente de Alconétar and, in Portugal, the Ponte D. Luís I and Ponte Salgueiro Maia near Santarém and the Ponte da Lezíria and Ponte 25 de Abril . In Lisbon, a third Tagus crossing is to be built between the Vasco da Gama Bridge and the April 25th Bridge .

Attractions

The cities of Toledo and Lisbon on the Tagus and Tejo are among the most important sights of the Iberian Peninsula and all of Europe , but the cities of Aranjuez and Talavera de la Reina also deserve attention.

Power plants and reservoirs

The Tagus has a large number of weirs, dams and reservoirs in its course. The first weirs are in its upper reaches a few kilometers east of Trillo . The major power plants and their reservoirs are (listed downstream):

power plant operator Max. Power (MW) Reservoir Surface (km²) Volume (million m³)
Entrepeñas 7820 Entrepeñas 032.13 08350
Bolarque 015th0 Bolarque 005.10 00310
Almoguera 0020 Almoguera
Azutan Azutan
Valdecañas 2490 Valdecañas
Torrejón-Tagus Torrejón-Tagus
Alcantara Iberdrola 9150 Alcantara 10400 3,1620
Cedillo Cedillo
Fratel EDP 1300 Fratel 01000 0092.5
Belver EDP 080.7 Belver 002.86 0012.5

The Tagus has no significance as an inland waterway. Ship or ferry traffic only takes place in the area of ​​the mouth of Lisbon.

history

The river was named Tagus by the Romans . Historically significant were the armed conflicts that began in 218 BC. During the Second Punic War on the banks of the Tagus between Hannibal and the Carpetans .

In Portugal, the area south of the Tagus is called " Alentejo "; it is one of the poorest regions in Western Europe.

On September 3, 2018, wreckage of a sunken Nao ship from the period 1575-1625 with pepper and Chinese porcelain from that time on board was discovered in the mouth of the Tagus at a depth of 12 m .

See also

Web links

Commons : Tajo  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Tajo  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wreck of the Indian fleet discovered near Lisbon orf.at, 23 September 2018, accessed 23 September 2018./