São Gião is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

(''freguesia'' in Portuguese), in the North of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, on

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 ...

, the highest mountain range in Portugal. It belongs to the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

Oliveira do Hospital Oliveira do Hospital () is a municipality in the district of Coimbra, in the central part of continental Portugal. The population in 2011 was 20,855, in an area of 234.52 km². History Inhabited by ancient civilizations, Oliveira do Hospita ...

, and the district (''distrito'') of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

. The population in 2011 was 425,Instituto Nacional de Estatística
/ref> in an area of 14.55 km².Áreas das freguesias, concelhos, distritos e país
/ref> It lies at an altitude of 704m, in the Beira region. It is an old Roman trading post. The old Roman bridge is still visible and in use to this day (to be confirmed). The town has a magnificent church - Igreja Matrix, also known as the

Igreja Matriz de São Gião "Igreja" ("Church") is a single by Brazilian rock band Titãs, released in 1986, part of their '' Cabeça Dinossauro'' album. Lyrics and composition According to songwriter and then bassist and vocalist Nando Reis, the song was written on the ...

or the

Catedral das Beiras Catedral may refer to: * Catedral (Buenos Aires Underground), a station * Catedral (district), a district of the San José canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica * Cerro Catedral, a mountain and ski resort in Argentina * Cerro Catedra ...

. This is an excellent building in the Baroque style that dates back to 1795. It has 102 magnificent hand painted panels on the roof that are well worth the trip to this small, hidden village on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela. Situated in the countryside between São Gião and Carvalha is the São Gião Radio Telecope. The 9.3 meter diameter radio telescope is the largest radio telescope in mainland Portugal and is used for astronomical measurements and education.

References

Freguesias of Oliveira do Hospital {{Coimbra-geo-stub

See also

References