Gardunha

The Gardunha mountain range (''Serra da Gardunha''), so called by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

(''Gardunha'' or ''Guardunha'' meaning refuge), is located in central

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 ...

, in

Centro Region The Central Region ( pt, Região do Centro, ) or Central Portugal is one of the statistical regions of Portugal. The cities with major administrative status inside this region are Coimbra, Aveiro, Viseu, Caldas da Rainha, Leiria, Castelo Branco, ...

, beyond the

Serra da Estrela Serra da Estrela () is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal. Together with the Serra da Lousã it is the westernmost constituent range of the Sistema Central and also one of the highest in the system. It includes mainland Portugal's ...

range, giving way to an extensive plain called

Beira Baixa Province Beira Baixa (; "Lower Beira") was a Portuguese province. It was abolished with the Constitution of 1976. Municipalities The 13 municipalities in the province: * Belmonte - Castelo Branco District - Cova da Beira Subregion * Castelo Branco - C ...

. It was covered with vineyards in the time of

King Denis Denis (, ; 9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325 in Santarém), called the Farmer King (''Rei Lavrador'') and the Poet King (''Rei Poeta''), was King of Portugal. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile, and ...

, who reigned in the 13th and 14th centuries. But the sovereign decided to pull them up and replace them with

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

trees all over the Alcambar valley. The valley became known as the King's groves. Unfortunately though, due to man's negligence, violent fires destroyed a significant number of trees, although some areas were reforested. ''Pirâmide'' (1,223m/4,013ft), is the highest point in Gardunha mountain range. {{coord, 40, 10, 39, N, 7, 20, 26, W, display=title, source:ptwiki Mountains of Portugal Mountain ranges of Europe Natura 2000 in Portugal