Covilhã (), officially City of Covilhã (), is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipality population in 2021 was 46,455 in an area of . It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and Beiras and Serra da Estrela Intermunicipal Community. The municipal holiday is October 20. Sometimes referred to as town of wool and snow, Covilhã is one of the main urban centres of the historical Beira Interior region. The proximity of the mountains offers dramatic scenery and a great environment for those fond of hiking, camping, mountain climbing and skiing. With an industrial tradition historically focused on textile industry supplied by an abundance of wool produced in the area since antiquity, but with a more diversified industry in contemporaneity, Covilhã, which was once known as the "Portuguese Manchester", is also a university city nowadays awarding degrees from aeronautical engineering to medicine to philosophy.
History Covilhã's history dates back to the days when it was a pre-historical settlement, a shelter for Lusitanian shepherds, and a Roman fortress known as Cava Juliana or Silia Hermínia. The region of Beira Interior, where the city of Covilhã is located, is rich in historical places. Due to its strategic potential, its mountains were used to build castles for both attack and defence purposes. Covilhã was granted foral in 1186 by king Sancho I of Portugal, who also built the castle walls. And, later, it was king Denis of Portugal who ordered the construction of the walls of the admirable medieval district of Portas do Sol. The old quarters of the city have narrow cobblestone streets; pedestrians are challenged permanently by the ups and downs of most of the streets in the city.
It was already in the Middle Ages one of the main "villages of the kingdom", a situation later confirmed by the fact that great natives from the city or its surroundings became decisive in all the great Portuguese Discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries: the advance in the Atlantic Ocean, the sea route to India, the discoveries of America and Brazil, the first circumnavigation of the Earth. In full population expansion when the Renaissance appeared, the economic sector was particularly important in agriculture, pastoralism, fruit-growing, and forestry. Trade and industry were booming. Gil Vicente cites "the many fine cloths". The Infante D. Henrique, knowing this reality well, became "lord" of Covilhã. The Portuguese Discoveries required large sums of money. The people of the town and its council collaborated not only through taxes, but also with their capital and talent.
The expansion overseas started with the conquest of Ceuta in 1415. Covilhã personalities such as Frei Diogo Alves da Cunha, who is buried in the Church of Conceição, participated in the event. The presence of ‘’covilhanenses’’ in the whole process extends with Pêro da Covilhã (first Portuguese to set foot on land in Mozambique and who sent news to D. João II on how to reach the places where the spices were produced, preparing the Maritime Way to India), João Ramalho, Fernão Penteado and others.
Among the missionaries we find Francisco Álvares, killed on the way to Brazil; Pêro da Covilhã, chaplain in Vasco da Gama’s expedition to India, the first martyr of India; Father Francisco Cabral, missionary in Japan; Father Gaspar Pais, who left Goa for Abyssinia; and many others who took, along with their faith, the name of Covilhã and Fundão in Cova da Beira valley to all parts of the world. The brothers Rui Faleiro and Francisco Faleiro, cosmographers, became notable for their knowledge of nautical science. During renaissance is Friar Heitor Pinto, one of the first Portuguese to publicly defend the Portuguese identity. His literary work is expressed in the classic "Image of Christian Life".
The importance of Covilhã, in this period, is explained not only by the "notable" title granted to it by king D. Sebastião but also by the works carried out here and in the region by the Castilian kings during the time of the Iberian Union. The Town Hall Square was indeed until the end of the 20th century, of Spanish Philippine style. In the surrounding streets one can find several traces of this style. In the municipality as well. Examples of Manueline style can also be found in the city. This is the case of a Manueline window in the Jewish quarter in Rua das Flores. The architect Mateus Fernandes, from Covilhã, who designed the entrance door to the Imperfect Chapels in the Monastery of Batalha is also other notable personality from Covilhã.
The two streams that come down from the Serra da Estrela, Carpinteira and Degoldra, cross the urban center and were at the origin of the industrial development. They provided the hydraulic energy that allowed the factories to work. Next to these two streams, today an interesting industrial archaeological site can be seen, composed of dozens of ruined buildings. A school-factory was built by Fernando de Meneses, 2nd Count of Ericeira in 1681. On November 1, 1755, Covilhã was shaken by the forces of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake that destroyed part of Covilhã's castle walls and its large towers.
A Royal Textile Factory was established in the city by the Marquis of Pombal in 1763, and Covilhã was granted city status on 20 October 1870 by king Luís I. Along the two streams that cross the city there are still remains of the old textile factories, which bear witness to the unquestionable importance of this industry for Covilhã's economy, once known as the "Portuguese Manchester". The Panasqueira mines in the municipality of Covilhã started production in 1898 and at the time of World War II, about 10,000 people worked in there.
During the first half of the 19th century, the municipality of Covilhã had about 22,000 inhabitants, and in 1930 it nearly reached 50,000 inhabitants. During the 1960s, Covilhã's municipality surpassed 70,000 inhabitants, but the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974) and the generalized emigration phenomena of the 1960s to 1980s Portuguese society, its geographical location in the mountainous interior of central Portugal, increasing mechanization, and the stagnation of its textile industrial sector caused a period of decline of its population to nearly 50,000 in the 1990s. A state-run university, UBI - Universidade da Beira Interior, was founded in 1979. The city is still expanding, mainly to the flat part of the valley, called Cova da Beira, where some important infrastructure, such as the central hospital and the highway, are located.
Geography
Covilhã is located in the Centro region, Cova da Beira subregion, in central Portugal; 300 km (186 mi) Northeast of Lisbon, Portugal's capital; 100 km (62 mi) East of Coimbra, the regional administrative centre; and at the bottom of the highest Portuguese mountain range, Serra da Estrela.
The city of Castelo Branco is located 50 km (31 mi) to the south of Covilhã and the neighboring city of Fundão, the largest locality in the vicinities of Covilhã, is 20 km (12.4 mi) also to the south.
The city of Covilhã towers between 450 and 800 metres (1,476 and 2,624 feet) above the sea level, thus the mountain landscape is ever present. The larger municipality has 555.6 km2 (214.5 sq mi) of territory and includes several localities distributed across 31 civil parishes.
In the municipality of Covilhã but outside the urban area, Penhas da Saúde is one of its highest points. At 1,500 metres (4,821 ft) high, this village and winter resort is located within the Serra da Estrela Natural Park.
Climate
Covilhã has a Mediterranean climate (Csa, according to the Köppen climate classification), moderately cold in the winter, and relatively warm in the summer. The Serra da Estrela Ski Resort, the only one in Portugal, lies about 20 km (12.4 mi) away from the city, already in the neighbouring municipality of Seia.
The cold increases according to altitude, varying from higher temperatures in the lower parts of the municipality, to colder temperatures with frequent and sometimes abundant snowfalls during the cold months in the higher areas, such as Penhas da Saúde, above 1,500 meters of altitude, 9 km away from the highest point of mainland Portugal, the Torre Plateau. In the urban area of Covilhã snowfalls with accumulation are rare.
The hottest month is August, with an average temperature of , while the coldest month is January, with an average of . The average annual temperature of Covilhã is and the average annual rainfall is around .
Parishes Administratively, the municipality is divided into 21 civil parishes (freguesias):
Aldeia de São Francisco de Assis Barco e Coutada Boidobra Cantar-Galo e Vila do Carvalho Casegas e Ourondo Cortes do Meio Covilhã e Canhoso Dominguizo Erada Ferro Orjais Paul Peraboa Peso e Vales do Rio São Jorge da Beira Sobral de São Miguel Teixoso e Sarzedo Tortosendo Unhais da Serra Vale Formoso e Aldeia do Souto Verdelhos
Education
The municipality of Covilhã has several kindergartens for pre-school children between 3 and 6 years of age, and 3 primary education schools. It has also a number of 2nd and 3rd cycle basic and secondary schools: Escola Secundária Frei Heitor Pinto, Escola Básica dos 2º e 3º ciclos de Tortosendo, Escola Básica Integrada de Sao Domingos, Escola Básica dos 2º e 3º ciclos de Paúl, Escola Básica do 2º ciclo de Pêro da Covilhã, Escola Secundária Campos Melo, Escola Secundária Quinta das Palmeiras, Escola Básica dos 2º e 3º ciclos de Teixoso, Externato de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios and Escola Internacional da Covilhã. Covilhã has a public university - the University of Beira Interior (UBI), which was founded in 1979 and awards all university academic degrees (licentiate "licenciatura", master's and doctorate degrees) in several fields like medicine, mathematics, sports sciences, aeronautical engineering, industrial design, fashion design, cinema, psychology, and many others.
Economy
Major economic activities in the region include textiles, food production, agriculture, tourism and mining. The Panasqueira mines in the municipality of Covilhã, located over 30 kilometers to southwest of the city, is a large tin-tungsten mine made up of multiple concessions that started production in 1898. The industrial mining center commonly known as Panasqueira Mines extends over a vast area covered by the Panasqueira and Vale da Ermida Mining Fields with a total area around 20.5 km2. There is an estimated 12,000 km of tunnels, some still working and others already abandoned. At the time of World War II, about 10,000 people worked in the mine; by 2017, approximately 370. The mine had a planned production for more than 30 years as of 2017. The University of Beira Interior, established in 1979, has great importance in the city today. The Centro Hospitalar Universitário Cova da Beira at Covilhã, a state-run university hospital, plays a major role in the region. Covilhã is traditionally a center of wool and textile industries - the university's central building was the Royal Textile Factory, established by the Marquis of Pombal in the 18th century. Covilhã has deep industrial roots and is still one of the biggest woolen fabric producers in Europe.
The textile industry produces about 40,000 km of fabric per year, mainly through companies like Paulo de Oliveira, Penteadora, Tessimax and A. Saraiva, which supply large worldwide textile and fashion brands such as Hugo Boss, Armani, Zegna, Marks & Spencer, Yves St. Laurent, Calvin Klein and Christian Dior.
Tourism is also important, and the city serves as a winter and mountain resort. Fruit production is important in the region of Cova da Beira, a subregion centered in Covilhã's municipality. Frulact, a Portuguese fruit processing company, has major industrial facilities in the municipality of Covilhã.