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42-623: The Sierra de la Culebra is a 95 km long regular mountain chain of medium height, forming a natural border with the Portuguese region of Tras os Montes on its western end. Its slopes are wooded, occasionally ravaged by forest fires . The summits of the range are often covered with snow in the winter and there are odd-looking rocky quartzite outcrops on them. Among the rivers in Spain and Portugal having their source in Sierra de la Culebra,

84-633: A World Heritage Site by Unesco on December 14, 2001. The northeast of the region is declared a biosphere reserve by Unesco under the name of Meseta Ibérica. The Douro is the most outstanding river in this territory and the backbone of the relief and the geographical and human disposition. The following important rivers yield their waters to it: the Sabor River , the Tua River and the Corgo River , whose courses served to channel rail transport in

126-418: A career. In the small villages, agricultural activity is maintained at a good pace, so that it is still possible to obtain good: corn, wheat, olive oil, chestnuts and some delicate grapes widely used in the production of wine from the region (called port wine ) as well as a large number of natural agricultural products. Granite and mineral water are also very important industries in the region. Trás-os-Montes

168-569: A significant contrast from the average fish-eating habits of the Portuguese . Posta à mirandesa is one of the most recognizable dishes in Trás-os-Montes, along with javali no pote ( wild boar ), marrã à moda de Mesão Frio (pig), cabrito assado à transmontana or milhos à moda de Trás-os-Montes (similar to a cozido à portuguesa with milho-branco (crushed corn) instead of vegetables); though seafood dishes also made their way in

210-403: A winter maximum in precipitation. A portion of the annual precipitation falls as snowfall, and snow often remains on the ground for more than a month. Summers in continental climates can feature thunderstorms and frequent hot temperatures; however, summer weather is somewhat more stable than winter weather. Continental climates are considered as temperate climate varieties due to their location in

252-465: Is Mediterranean , but rainfall is much more distributed throughout the year than in other regions of Portugal, making it relatively close to an oceanic or humid subtropical climate . This region is also more prone to summer thunderstorms than any other place in the country, due to its distance from the Azores High . Two cities from Trás-os-Montes, Chaves and Bragança also hold the record for

294-462: Is a national hunting forest reserve on the Spanish side. Controversially, the wolves are protected in the reserve in order that they may be shot by sportsmen on payment of a fee of several thousand Euros. This process is defended on the grounds that it helps pay for the upkeep of the reserve and thus the protection of the species as a whole. The number of wolves authorised for hunting each year in Spain

336-701: Is known by locals as the land of "10 months of winter and 2 months of hell" ( dez meses de inverno e dois meses de inferno ). The region has always been divided into two climatic zones, known as the Terra Fria (Cold Land) and the Terra Quente (Hot Land). The Terra Fria is the area with very cold and prolonged winters, with warm to hot and dry summers, while the Terra Quente has shorter winters, although equally cold, with very hot and dry summers that show their influence even in spring and fall, they are shorter than normal. Due to its continentality, Trás-os-Montes has

378-688: Is made up of 5 other municipalities in the south of the Douro River. , all of them included in Viseu and Guarda, all of them being part of the Central region The most important cities in the region are: Vila Real , Bragança , Chaves , Mirandela , Macedo de Cavaleiros , Lamego , Peso da Régua , Miranda do Douro and Valpaços . All of them are relatively small and populated with less than 50,000 inhabitants. Many people in this region live in small towns. Traditionally these villages were disconnected from

420-534: Is strictly controlled, the auction being carried out in Villardeciervos , but many more are shot illegally. In the Sierra de la Culebra reserve, wolves may occasionally be observed when attracted to a bait-station, known locally as a Muladar , where remains of dead horses and donkeys are put out for them. On the Sierra de la Culebra reserve there is a healthy population of the wolves' main prey species - roe deer , red deer and wild boar . The presence of

462-669: Is usually between 600 millimetres (24 in) and 1,200 millimetres (47 in), The timing of intermediate spring-like or autumn-like temperatures in this zone vary depending on latitude and/or elevation. For example, spring may arrive as soon as March (in Northern hemisphere , September in Southern hemisphere ) in the southern (in Northern hemisphere, northern in Southern hemisphere), parts of this zone or as late as May (November) in

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504-705: The Arctic Circle , central and southeastern Canada , and the central and northeastern United States have this type of climate. Continentality is a measure of the degree to which a region experiences this type of climate. In continental climates, precipitation tends to be moderate in amount, concentrated mostly in the warmer months. Only a few areas—in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest of North America and in Iran , northern Iraq , adjacent Turkey , Afghanistan , Pakistan , and Central Asia —show

546-715: The Castro River , Tera , Tuella , Sabor and Maçãs (Manzanas), deserve mention. These mountains are famous as one of the few remaining strongholds of the Iberian wolf . The Sierra de la Culebra is a southeastern prolongation of Sierra Segundera , at the southern fringes of the Macizo Galaico-Leonés . The western prolongations of Serra de Montezinho or Maciço de Montesinho , Sierra de la Gamoneda ( Portuguese : Serra da Gamoneda ) and Sierra del Marabón ( Portuguese : Serra de Marabón ) are part of

588-660: The Douro River . Geomorphologically the mountainous Trás-os-Montes region forms a continuum with the Galician Massif , so that it is considered as a whole under the name 'Galicia-Trás-os-Montes Zone'. This region is made up of two main districts, both to the right (north) of the Douro River: Vila Real and Bragança , included as part of the North Region of Portugal , the other district

630-523: The Galician bagpipe or the Scottish bagpipe , for example, the mirandesa bagpipe has recently been recovered, so its repertoire is almost all traditional, with few modern compositions. This is due, in part, to the decline of the instrument, whose tradition had been maintained orally and was already being lost. However, today there are many old recordings and collections of this instrument available through

672-473: The 1976 Constitution. The proposal for regionalization subject to a referendum in 1998 (having been rejected) foresaw the creation of the Trás-os-Montes region, in every way the same as the province of 1936, with the exception of including one more municipality ( Mêda ). Continentality Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of

714-456: The 19th century, Trás-os-Montes included the districts of Bragança , Miranda, Torre de Moncorvo and Vila Real . In the interior of its territory, the Ervededo couto was located, which depended on the comarca of Braga ( Province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho ). The Province of Trás-os-Montes remained in the administrative division of 1832. At that time, it had a prefect - a magistrate representing

756-653: The Baixo Sabor reservoir, one of the largest in the region. Nearby are those located in the International Douro: Castro , Miranda , Picote , Bemposta , Aldeadávila and Saucelle . Half of Portuguese ownership and the other half Spanish. Undoubtedly the most important hydroelectric infrastructure in the region is the Alto Douro Vinhateiro navigation channel, which makes it possible for tourist cruises to transit from Porto to

798-715: The Sierra de la Culebra mountainous system. Other subranges are Sierra de las Cavernas , Sierra de los Cantadores and Sierra de las Carbas , located on the Spanish side. One important feature is the Rock of the Three Kingdoms dividing three ancient Iberian kingdoms in the Serra de Marabón subrange. On the Portuguese side the area of the Sierra de la Culebra range is included in the Montesinho Natural Park . The Reserva de Caza de la Sierra de la Culebra ,

840-541: The Spanish border at Barca d’Alva . It is possible thanks to the locks of the Pocinho , Valeira , Régua , Carrapatelo and Crestuma-Lever dams. In addition to Portuguese, in the northeastern corner of the region, known as Tierra de Miranda , Mirandese is spoken, a dialect of the Asturian language , which is officially recognized in Trás-os-Montes under Law No. 7 / 99, of January 29, 1999, of official recognition of

882-400: The area of action of a main frontier, a military commander who was assigned the operational command of the province's troops on campaign. From the 17th century onwards, the province was divided into several corrections (also called comarcas), each with its own corregedor. The province then became just a statistical unit and a military region commanded by a governor of arms. At the beginning of

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924-441: The carcasses put out for the wolves also attracts spectacular raptors such as the griffon vulture . There are also small colonies of Vipera latastei and Coronella austriaca , which perhaps gave the mountains their name. Tr%C3%A1s-os-Montes (region) Trás-os-Montes ( Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌtɾaz uʒ ˈmõtɨʃ] ) is a geographical, historical and cultural region of Portugal . Portuguese for "behind

966-571: The central government - and a provincial general council - a local authority, elected locally. The province was divided into the districts of Bragança, Chaves, Moncorvo and Vila Real. The counties, which were not provincial headquarters, each had a sub-prefect, who represented the prefect. By the administrative reform of 1835, Portugal was divided into districts. The division into provinces was maintained, but these became mere groupings of districts for statistical and regional reference purposes, without their own bodies. The Province of Trás-os-Montes joined

1008-419: The coast due to the lack of good roads, and thus suffered the effects of poverty and isolation. In these cases it can be understood that immigration was the only solution. Today the situation has improved with better roads and communications, but most populations continue to lose population, especially young people who prefer to go to large cities where there are usually more amenities and more opportunities to run

1050-472: The coldest winters in Portugal, with January temperatures varying between 7–11 °C (45–52 °F) during the day and 0–3 °C (32–37 °F) during the night; and has rather hot summers, with July and August temperatures varying between 26–32 °C (79–90 °F) during the day and 12–15 °C (54–59 °F) during the night, 33–34 °C (91–93 °F) in low-lying valleys. The overall climate

1092-526: The districts of Bragança and Vila Real. The province, now named Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro and encompassing some municipalities on the left bank of the Douro , was reinstated by the administrative reform of 1936, in accordance with the Constitution of 1933 ( Estado Novo ). The new provinces were created, based on a geographical study by geographer Amorim Girão that identified 13 "natural regions" in

1134-623: The highest air pressure ever recorded in Portugal, 1050.3 hPa. Trás-os-Montes stands out mainly for its landscape contrasts. To the north is the Montesinho Natural Park , to the east the Douro International Natural Park , bordering Spain, to the northwest the Peneda-Gerês National Park , to the east the Marão and Alvão mountains and to the south the region of Alto Douro Vinhateiro , declared

1176-514: The lack of development, which led its inhabitants to seek better conditions on the coast or emigrate to other European countries such as France , Luxembourg and Switzerland , and to Brazil . The name of Trás-os-Montes refers to the location to the east of mountains such as Marão , Alvão and Gerês , which separate the interior from the coast, and which form a valley around the Douro River . These natural barriers have kept this region of Portugal depopulated and poor for several centuries, being

1218-618: The linguistic rights of the Miranda community. It is spoken by about 15,000 people in the municipalities of Miranda do Douro, Mogadouro and Vimioso. International organizations such as SIL International grant it its own code, others such as Unesco frame it within the Asturian language. Caretos de Podence is a masquerade held in the town of Podence , belonging to the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros , which has been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by Unesco. Inserted in

1260-416: The local cuisine: Bacalhau à bruxa de Valpaços or Polvo à transmontana (octopus) are also well known. Sweet foods include Doce Teixeira (made with lemon and cinnamon), Pudim de castanha (chestnut pudding ), and variants of classic Portuguese recipes such as Papos-de-anjo de Mirandela or Toucinho-do-céu de Murça . Trás-os-Montes was one of the six major administrative divisions into which

1302-519: The mountains", Trás-os-Montes is located northeast of the country in an upland area, landlocked by the Douro and Tâmega rivers to south and west and by the Spanish communities of Galicia and Castile and León to the north and east. This relative isolation has led to the survival of cultural traditions that mark the Portuguese identity. On the other hand, its extreme continentality also contributed to

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1344-472: The north (south). Summers are warm or hot while winters are below freezing and sustain lots of frost. Continental climates exist where cold air masses infiltrate during the winter from shorter days and warm air masses form in summer under conditions of high sun and longer days. Places with continental climates are as a rule either far from any moderating effect of oceans or are so situated that prevailing winds tend to head offshore. Such regions get quite warm in

1386-461: The reason that many of its inhabitants were forced to emigrate to the coast or to other countries such as Brazil, France, Luxembourg or Switzerland. Though the boundaries have slightly changed since its creation, traditionally, the territory comprising Trás-os-Montes is limited up north with Galicia , to the east with Castile and León , to the west with the Tâmega River and to the south with

1428-764: The region. Another important river is the Tâmega , which serves as the boundary of the region to the west. One of its tributaries is the Rabagão River , which also serves to delimit the region and on which the Alto Rabagão and Venda Nova reservoirs are built. In the Azibo River , a tributary of the Sabor, the Azibo reservoir is established, a protected natural area of tourist interest. The Sabor river gives rise to

1470-569: The summer, achieving temperatures characteristic of tropical climates but are colder than any other climates of similar latitude in the winter. In the Köppen climate system, these climates grade off toward temperate climates equator-ward where winters are less severe and semi-arid climates or arid climates where precipitation becomes inadequate for tall-grass prairies and shrublands. In Europe these climates may grade off into oceanic climates ( Cfb ) or subpolar oceanic climates ( Cfc ) in which

1512-558: The temperate zones, but are classified separately from other temperate climates in the Köppen climate classification system where they are identified by their first letter, a capital D . In the Trewartha climate classification , they are identified as Dc . Continental climate has at least one month averaging below 0 °C (32 °F) and at least one month averaging above 10 °C (50 °F). Annual precipitation in this zone

1554-471: The territory of Portugal was divided in the 15th century. The division was known as Comarca until the 16th century, from then on to being known as Province . Until the 17th century, the Province of Trás-os-Montes constituted a correctional office, administered by a corregedor (a magistrate with judicial and administrative functions). At the same time, in the event of war, the province also constituted

1596-466: The territory of mainland Portugal. The natural region of Trás-os-Montes and the natural region of Alto Douro were grouped into the province of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. However, the provinces never had any practical attribution, and disappeared from the administrative scene (although not from the daily vocabulary of the Portuguese) with the constitutional revision of 1959, not being recovered by

1638-607: The thick blankets of their suits. They are similar to those held in towns in the Spanish Leonese Region such as La Bufa de San Antón in Aldeadávila de la Ribera , in the Province of Salamanca , or El Zangarrón de Montamarta, in the Province of Zamora . The gaita transmontana or gaita mirandesa is among the most archaic known bagpipe models, in terms of its tuning and mode. Contrary to what happens with

1680-550: The three northern-tier continents ( North America , Europe , and Asia ), typically in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 or 60 degrees north), often within large landmasses, where prevailing winds blow overland bringing some precipitation, and temperatures are not moderated by oceans. Continental climates occur mostly in the Northern Hemisphere due to the large landmasses found there. Most of northeastern China , eastern and southeastern Europe , much of Russia south of

1722-475: The winter festivals, so characteristic in the Trás-os-Montes region, the Caretos represent diabolical and mysterious images that every year, since time immemorial, have been out on the streets at carnival festivals. Interrupting the long silences of each winter, as if secretly and unpredictably emerging from the corners of Podence, the Caretos and their frenzied cowbells appear well crossed in the colored stripes of

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1764-577: The work of many ethnomusicologists . It shares various structural aspects with the sanabresa or alistana bagpipes. The gastronomy of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro reflects the difficulties experienced by the local populations of the region which had to adapt their diet to survive in the desolate region. Much of the local enchidos are made with every part of the animal, lard and bread soups were made, and high durability ingredients, such as chestnuts and casulas (bean pods that were left to dry and then cooked) were used. Dishes are mostly meat-based,

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