Covilhã and the Serra da Estrela
Covilhã is known for its wool, which made it the 'Portuguese Manchester', and for its place on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela. Read on for medieval walls, textile ruins along mountain streams, cherry orchards and glacial valleys shaped by ice 20,000 years ago.
0 breweries · 0 venues
Covilhã, in the Centro region, sits on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela, which the town council describes as the highest mountain in mainland Portugal, within the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, created on 16 July 1976. Sancho I granted the town a charter in 1186 and built its walls, and King Dinis later ordered the walls of the medieval Portas do Sol quarter. Covilhanenses took part in the Portuguese voyages of discovery, among them the explorer Pêro da Covilhã, and the architect Mateus Fernandes, who designed the entrance to the Unfinished Chapels at the Monastery of Batalha, was from Covilhã.
Covilhã's industrial tradition grew around the textile industry, supplied by wool produced in the area since antiquity, and the town was once known as the "Portuguese Manchester". The Carpinteira and Degoldra streams, running down from the Serra da Estrela through the centre, powered its mills, and the ruins of old textile factories still line their banks. The Marquis of Pombal established a Royal Textile Factory here in 1763, and King Luís I made Covilhã a city on 20 October 1870. The Museu de Lanifícios of the University of Beira Interior keeps this history: its Real Fábrica de Panos nucleus preserves the dye works of the Pombaline manufactory, and the Real Fábrica Veiga, by the Goldra stream, was the seat of the wool company founded in Covilhã by José Mendes Veiga in 1784.
The council's other museums include the Museu de Arte Sacra, in a building designed by Raul Lino, with more than a thousand pieces, and the Museu do Queijo in Peraboa, dedicated to shepherding and Serra da Estrela cheese. In Ferro, a town surrounded by cherry orchards, the Centro Interpretativo da Cereja shows the cherry production process. Above the city, the council points visitors to glacial valleys shaped by ice 20,000 years ago.
The craft beer scene in Covilhã is still waiting to be discovered. After a day in the Serra da Estrela, travellers can look around the wider Beira Interior, from Fundão to Guarda, to see what is being poured in the region.
No places listed here yet.
Frequently asked questions
Covilhã is a city in Portugal's Centro region, on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela, which the town council describes as the highest mountain in mainland Portugal. It lies within the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, created in 1976, and became a city in 1870 after centuries as a walled medieval town.
The name comes from its textile industry, supplied by wool produced in the area since antiquity. Mountain streams running through the centre powered its mills, the Marquis of Pombal founded a Royal Textile Factory here in 1763, and the ruins of old textile factories still line the banks of those streams today.
The main one is the university's wool museum, which preserves the dye works of the 18th-century royal factory and the seat of a wool company founded in 1784. The council's other museums include a sacred art museum with more than a thousand pieces and a cheese museum in Peraboa dedicated to shepherding.
Above the city, the town council points visitors to glacial valleys shaped by ice 20,000 years ago in the Serra da Estrela. In the town of Ferro, surrounded by cherry orchards, an interpretation centre shows the cherry production process, and Peraboa has a museum devoted to Serra da Estrela cheese.
The museums close on Mondays and open until 18:00, with most pausing for lunch; hours can change. The wool museum opens 09:30–12:00 and 14:30–18:00, the sacred art museum 09:30–12:30 and 14:00–18:00, and the free city museum, with ramp, lift and accessible toilet, 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–18:00. Ferro's cherry centre opens 10:00–18:00.