The Galician Massif or Galician-Leonese Massif (, also known as ''Macizo Galaico-Leonés'') is a system of

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

s in the northwestern corner of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. It is located in Galicia with its southeastern end reaching into the provinces of Zamora and León of

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

. Its highest point is Pena Trevinca at . Another important peak is Cabeza de Manzaneda (1,781 m). In traditional local folklore the forests of the Galician System are said to be inhabited by a variety of

elves An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''. In medieval Germanic-speakin ...

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

s, the

Santa Compaña The Santa Compaña (Galician for "Holy Company") is a deep-rooted mythical belief in rural northwest of Iberia: Galicia, Asturias (Spain), border zones of Castile and León (El Bierzo) and Northern Portugal. It is the Iberian version of the pa ...

, the Nubeiro and

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

es ''(meigas)''.

Geology

Geomorphologically Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand why ...

the Galician Massif is a northwestern prolongation of the

Meseta Central The ''Meseta Central'' (, sometimes referred to in English as Inner Plateau) is one of the basic geographical units of the Iberian Peninsula. It consists of a plateau covering a large part of the latter's interior. Developed during the 19th cent ...

, the inner Iberian plateau and has great affinity with the geology of the Tras os Montes Portuguese region, so that it is considered as a whole under the name 'Galicia-Trás-os-Montes Zone'. It is composed of

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

materials (

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

) with

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

s such as

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

and

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

in the center and west, which were subject to Alpine folding. Its eastern end merges with the

Cantabrian Mountains The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range () are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. They stretch for over 300 km (180 miles) across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the Galician Massif ...

. The

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

of the system, with an average height of , is relatively smooth compared with other Iberian ranges. It is however very complex, having no defined structural alignment owing to the heavy

fluvial erosion In geography and geology, fluvial sediment processes or fluvial sediment transport are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by sediments. It can result in the formation of ripples and dunes, in fractal-shaped ...

that has fragmented the terrain. Generally the system includes mountains that are rounded in shape, often topped by small rocky outcrops, as well as horsts, basins and faults, roughly aligned in a N-S direction.

Vegetation

Since rain is abundant in Galicia, the undisturbed areas of the massif have a soft

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

texture and are covered in dense vegetation of

temperate deciduous forest Temperate deciduous or temperate broadleaf forests are a variety of temperate forest 'dominated' by deciduous trees that lose their leaves each winter. They represent one of Earth's major biomes, making up 9.69% of global land area. These forests ...

where ''

Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an un ...

'' and ''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...

'' oaks predominate. The woods alternate with

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

and wide natural

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

s.CSIC List of Iberian flora ''Quercus sp.''
The vegetation is quite homogeneous throughout the massif and there is great plant

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

in the Galician mountains. Many of the species found in the mountains were used in Galician

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

. The Serra dos Ancares was declared a

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments. MAB engages w ...

in 2006. Os Ancares UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve
/ref>

Mountain ranges

From the southeast to the northwest the Galician Massif has three

physiographic Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

longitudinal sections: *The southwestern ranges; the highest elevations are found in this sector, including 2,047 m high Pena Trevinca, the highest point of the whole system. These ranges reach into the provinces of León and Zamora, hence the alternative name ''Macizo Galaico-Leonés'', and show scars of the

glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

, which are apparent in the Serra do Eixe, also known as Serra da Segundera (). Rivers

Tera Tera or TERA may refer to: People * Tera Hunter, American professor of history * Tera Patrick (born 1976) American pornographic actress * Tera people, an ethnic group in Gombe State, Nigeria Places * Téra, Niger * Tera, Paphos, Cyprus * ...

Cabreira La Cabrera (Cabreira in Leonese language) is a comarca (shire) in the province of León, Spain. Its surface is 115.87 km2 and the population was 4,227 inhabitants in 2007. The Sierra de la Cabrera range dominates the landscape of this mount ...

and

Bibei Bibei () is a town in Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, Guangdong, China. As of the 2017 census it had a population of 7,737 and an area of . Administrative division As of 2016, the town is divided into one community and seven villages: * Bibeikou Co ...

run through

glacial valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...

and the San Martín de Castañeda Lake, ''Laguna de Lacillo'' lakes are

moraine-dammed lake A moraine-dammed lake, occurs when the terminal moraine has prevented some meltwater from leaving the valley. When a glacier retreats, there is a space left over between the retreating glacier and the piece that stayed intact which holds leftov ...

s. *The Galician Dorsal Range; with 1,778 m high Cabeza de Manzaneda, its highest elevation. A

tectonic basin A structural basin is a large-scale structural geology, structural formation of rock stratum, strata formed by tectonics, tectonic warping (Fold (geology), folding) of previously flat-lying strata into a syncline fold. They are geological dep ...

running in a north–south direction separates it from the southwestern ranges. It includes the Central Ourensan Massif. *The coastal ranges; such as Serra da Barbanza, are generally of a much lesser height and are separated from the Galician Dorsal Range by the Tui-

Verín Verín is a town and municipality in the southeast of the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. The population of the municipality is about 14,433. It is located 70 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Our ...

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

intermontane basin Intermontane is a physiographic adjective formed from the prefix " inter-" (''signifying among, between, amid, during, within, mutual, reciprocal'') and the adjective "montane" (inhabiting, or growing in mountainous regions, especially cool, mo ...

List of ranges

* Serra de Meira * Serra de Xistral * Serra da Barbanza *

Serra da Cova da Serpe Serra (Latin for " saw") may refer to: People and fictional characters * Serra (surname) Serra (, , , ) is Latin language, Latin for "saw" (a view from a high place, or a saw, see serrated), Italian language, Italian for "greenhouse", and Sardin ...

* Serra do Faro * Testeiro Range * Galiñeiro Range * Serra do Courel * Serra dos Ancares * Central Ourensan Massif * Serra do Suído * Serra do Eixe * Serra do Xurés

Main ranges and features

References

External links

*
Macizo Galaico (Chain) - Hiking Geographic Card

Virtual Cadastral
{{Mountains of Spain Mountain ranges of Galicia (Spain) Mountain ranges of Castile and León Physiographic provinces