Monchique () is a municipality of southern

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 th ...

, in Faro District (province of Algarve). The population in 2011 was 6,045, in an area of 395.30 km². The Municipality of Monchique is situated in the Serra de Monchique and together with the town of Monchique is a tourist destination. Attractions include a historic town centre, views from the two peaks of Foia and Picota, hiking, bird watching and biking. There are hot sulfur springs, with baths and health spas south in 'Caldas de Monchique' (Spring of Monchique). Eucalyptus, cork oak, oranges, lemons, honey, olive oil, chestnuts, scissor chairs made from chestnut wood, black pork and black pork ham and sausages are the chief products. There are several small industries producing tourist artifacts that are sold in local shops, and

medronho The Aguardente de Medronhos is a strong spirit, a traditional fruit brandy from Portugal, obtained from arbutus berries - the fruit of the Medronho tree, '' Arbutus unedo'' - also called strawberry tree. The '' Arbutus unedo'' grow wild on the p ...

, a local brew made from distilled medronho berries (Arbutus/ Strawberry Tree), is produced.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 3 civil parishes (''

freguesias ''Freguesia'' (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Port ...

''): * Alferce *

Marmelete Marmelete is a villagePortuguese civilian survey: Sheet 49C Albufeira. Publishers: Instituto Geográfico Português (Portugal Civilian Survey). Scale:1:50,000. and a '' freguesia'' (parish) in the ''concelho'' (municipality) of Monchique (Algarve, ...

* Monchique

Climate

Monchique has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

with warm to hot summers and mild, wet winters. Due to its altitude and location, right between the valley formed by the Serra de Monchique, precipitation in the winter is much larger than anywhere else on the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

. Its position on the southwest corner of Portugal gives it very mild temperatures in the winter, especially for its altitude.

References

External links

official Monchique Municipality websiteMonchiqueportugal.info
Populated places in Faro District Municipalities of the Algarve Towns of the Algarve Municipalities of Faro District {{Faro-geo-stub