Guarda is a city and a municipality in the District of Guarda and the seat of the Beiras e Serra da Estrela sub-region in central Portugal. Serra da Estrela, the highest mountain range in continental Portugal, is partially located in the district. The city is served by national and international trains on the Beira Alta and Baixa railway lines. The present mayor is Álvaro Amaro, who succeeded Joaquim Valente. The municipal holiday is November 27.
Guarda is known as the “city of the five F’s”: Farta, Forte, Fria, Fiel e Formosa – abundant (or totally satisfied), strong, cold, loyal and beautiful.
The explanation of the five F’s is as follows:
- Farta (abundant), due to the fertility of the lands of the Mondego River valley;
- Forte (strong), because the castle tower, the walls and its geographical location demonstrate its strength;
- Fria (cold), due to its proximity to Serra da Estrela;
- Fiel (loyal), because the Captain General of the Castle Guard, Álvaro Gil Cabral, Pedro Alvares Cabral‘s great-great-grandfather, refused to hand over the keys to the city to the King of Castile during the Crisis of 1383-1385 and still had the strength to participate in the Battle of Aljubarrota;
- Formosa (beautiful), for the natural beauty of the urban nucleus.
Geography
Guarda is the largest city in its district 9, capital of the Guarda District and the Beira Interior Norte Subregion within the Centro region. The municipality is bordered by Pinhel to the north, to the east by Almeida, to the southeast by Sabugal, to the south by Belmonte and Covilhã, to the west by Manteigas and Gouveia, and to the northwest by Celorico da Beira.
Guarda is the highest city in continental Portugal (altitude 1,056 m), located to the northeast of Serra da Estrela (the largest mountain in mainland Portugal). The main attraction in Guarda is its cathedral, known as the Sé da Guarda. Guarda is a diocese of the same name.
Guarda railway station is served by the railway line Linha da Beira Alta, with international services towards Salamanca and Madrid, and domestic services to Pinhel, Vila Franca das Naves/Trancoso, Celorico da Beira, Gouveia, Nelas, Carregal do Sal, Santa Comba Dão, Mortagua, Luso/Buçaco and Pampilhosa. The station at Guarda has (2013) eighteen daily arrivals and departures of passenger trains and there is a small freight terminal. The section of the Linha da Beira Baixa, which ran from Guarda through Belmonte/Sabugal, Covilhã, Fundão, Castelo Branco and Abrantes to Entroncamento, was closed in 2010 between Guarda and Covilhã. The track is now partially lifted, thus making it unusable.
The main motorways are A25 (Aveiro, Viseu, Guarda, Vilar Formoso) and A23 (Guarda, Covilhã, Fundão, Castelo Branco, Abrantes, Torres Novas). Numerous motorcoach (long distance bus) services use these motorways to link Guarda with Porto, Lisbon and other Portuguese cities.
Guarda is antipode of Puponga in New Zealand.
Climate
Guarda has a continental cool mediterranean climate with lower average temperatures than most climates of this subtype, in part due to its high altitude. Winters are cool and wet and summers are warm and dry.
Heritage
A medieval temple built in Gothic and Manueline styles. Its restoration, carried out by the architect Rosendo Carvalheira, took place between 1899 and 1921.
The castle was declared a National Monument on June 16, 1910. Its construction, supposedly on a Roman-Lusitanian fort from the 1st century, took place between the 12th and 14th centuries.
- Old Episcopal Palace of Guarda
- Anta de Pêra do Moço
- Tower of the blacksmiths (ferreiros)
- Convent of São Francisco de Guarda or Convent of the Holy Spirit
- Chapel of Our Lady of Mileu
- Archaeological site of Póvoa do Mileu
- Fountain of Dorna
- Church of São Vicente
- Church of Misericórdia
- Cruise or pillory (pelourinho) from Guarda
- Castro do Jarmelo (place built in pre-Roman) times
- Paços do Concelho, (old town hall)
- Castro de Tintinolho, an important place in the wars between Lusitanians and Romans
- Solar na Rua do Encontro (house built in the 15th or 16th century, which at the end of the 17th century was enriched in its facade, with an innovative element that transformed the appearance of the room, which gave it a nobility status to the family that lived there.)
- Casa das Chaves Bandarra (House of the Keys Bandarra), on Calle Sancho I
- Fountain (Chafariz) of the Alameda de Santo André
Economy
The main economic sectors of Guarda are: tourism, textiles, electric wire and cable industry for automobile manufacturing and for energy industries, wood, glass, marble and granite processing, metallurgy, aluminum manufacturing, chemical products, blinds, cold cuts, bakery and pastry, dairy industry, as well as construction companies. There are also handicraft activities and agricultural and agro-livestock activities in the rural environment of the municipality.
Recreational and sports clubs
The main football club in the city is Guarda Unida, which participates in the first district division in the 2014-2015 season. Other clubs and associations of this type in the city include the Guarda Mountaineering Club, founded in 1981, The Pinheiro Center for Sport, Culture and Social Solidarity, integrated into the Guarda Athletics Association, the CSS – Associação de Desenvolvimento Carapito S. Salvador and the Lameirinhas Sports and Recreation Group, dedicated to futsal.
