Marechal Carmona Dam, also known as Idanha Dam, Idanha-a-Nova Lake and Idanha-a-Nova Reservoir, is a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

on the Ponsul River in the municipality of

Idanha-a-Nova Idanha-a-Nova () is a town and surrounding municipality in the district of Castelo Branco, in east-central Portugal. A border municipality with Spain, the population of the municipality in 2011 was 9,716, in an area of 1416.34 km2, making it ...

District of Castelo Branco Castelo Branco District ( pt, Distrito de Castelo Branco ) is located in Central Portugal. Its capital is Castelo Branco, which is now also its most populous city, overtaking Covilhã, which was once the largest city, in the late 2010s. It has ...

, in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Named after

Óscar Carmona António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona (; 24 November 1869 – 18 April 1951) was a Portuguese Army officer and politician who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1926 to 1928 and as the 11th president of Portugal from 1926 until his death i ...

, a Portuguese Army officer and politician, it is a gravity type dam located besides a tight

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

throat over the Campinas, in Idanha-a-Nova municipality. The dam began to fill in 1946 during Estado Novo. A few kilometres outside the town of

lies this dam which completely transformed the landscape of the valley and separated the two Idanhas – the Nova (New) and the Velha (Old). The reservoir now contains a large artificial lake that is ideal for canoeing and other water sports. In summer, the river beaches are a perfect place to cool off. Sports and leisure activities in its reservoir include fishing, swimming, sailing boats and windsurf.Idanha ou de Marechal Carmona Dam, lifecooler http://en.lifecooler.com/lifecooleren/idanha-ou-de-marechal-carmona-dam-dams-and-reservoirs-352820-1.html The music and culture festival Boom Festival takes place on its banks every other year.

References

Dams in Portugal Reservoirs in Portugal {{Portugal-struct-stub