LORIGA - MORE 2600 YEARS OLD - LAND OF VIRIATHUS AND CAPITAL OF THE SNOW IN PORTUGAL.. MAIS DE 2600 ANOS DE EXISTÊNCIA, VILA HISTÓRICA E CAPITAL DA NEVE.
lity - Seia
Localities - Fontão, Loriga
Landmark - Torre (Serra da Estrela)
Rivers - Ribeira de São Bento, Ribeira de Loriga
Center Loriga
- elevation1,293 m (4,242 ft)
- coordinates40°19′13.69″N 7°39′58.15″W / 40.3204694°N 7.6661528°W /
40.3204694; -7.6661528
Length4.21 km (3 mi), Northwest-Southeast
Width13.78 km (9 mi), Southwest-Northeast
Area36.25 km² (14 sq mi)
Population1,367 (2005)
Density37.71 / km² (98 / sq mi)
LAU - Vila/Junta Freguesia
- location - Largo da Fonte do Mouro, Loriga
Timezone - WET (UTC0)
- summer (DST)WEST (UTC+1)
ISO 3166-2 codePT-
Postal Zone - 6270-073 Loriga
Area Code & Prefix(+351) 238 ### ###
Demonym – Loriguense or Loricense
Patron Saint - Santa Maria Maior
Parish Address - Largo da Fonte do Mouro, 1019
6270-073 Loriga
Statistics from INE (2001); geographic detail from Instituto Geográfico
Português (2010)
Loriga (Portuguese pronunciation: [loˈɾiɡɐ]) is a small town (Portuguese:
vila) in south-central in central
Portugal. Part of the district of Guarda, it is 20 km away from the city of
Seia, 40 km away from Viseu, 80 km away from Guarda and 320 km from Lisbon,
nestled in the Serra da Estrela mountain range. In 2005, estimates have the
resident population at about 1367 inhabitants, in an area of 36.25 km² that
includes the two localities/villages of Loriga and Fontão. History
Loriga was
founded originally along a column between ravines where today the historic
centre exists. The site was ostensibly selected more than 2600 years ago, owing
to its defensibility, the abundance of potable water and pasturelands, and
lowlands that provided conditions to practice both hunting and
gathering/agriculture. When the Romans arrived in the region, the settlement was concentrated into two
areas. The larger, older and principal agglomeration was situated in the area of
the main church and Rua de Viriato, fortified with a wall and palisade. The
second group, in the Bairro de São Ginês, were some small homes constructed on
the rocky promintory, which were later appropriated by the Visigoths in order to
construct a chapel. The 1st century Roman road and two bridges (the second
was destroyed in the 17th century after flooding) connected the outpost of
Lorica to the rest of their Lusitanian province. The barrio of São Ginês (São
Gens), a local ex-libris, is the location of the chapel of Nossa Senhora do
Carmo, an ancient Visigothic chapel. São Gens, a Celtic saint, martyred in Arles
na Gália, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, and over time the locals began
to refer to this saint as São Ginês, due to its easy of pronunciation. Middle Ages
Loriga was the municipal seat since the 12th century,
receiving forals in 1136 (João Rhânia, master of the Terras de Loriga for over
two decades, during the reign of Afonso Henriques), 1249 (during the reign of
Afonso III), 1474 (under King Afonso V) and finally in 1514 (by King Manuel
I). Loriga was an ecclesiastical parish of the vicarage of the Royal Padroado and
its Matriz Church was ordered constructed in 1233, by King Sancho II. This
church, was to the invokation of Santa Maria Maior, and constructed over the
ancient small Visigothic chapel (there is a lateral block with Visigoth
inscriptions visible). Constructed in the Romanesque-style it consists of a
three-nave building, with hints of the Sé Velha of Coimbra. This structure was
destroyed during the 1755 earthquake, and only portions of the lateral walls
were preserved. The 1755 earthquake resulted in significant damage to the village
of Loriga, destroying homes and the parcochial residence, in addition to
opening-up cracks and faults in the village's larger buildings, such as the
historic municipal council hall (constructed in the 13th century). An
emissary of the Marquess of Pombal actually visited Loriga to evaluate the
damage (something that did not happen in other mountainous parishes, even
Covilhã) and provide support. The residents of Loriga supported the Absolutionist forces of the Infante Miguel
of Portugal against the Liberals, during the Portuguese Liberal Wars, which
resulted in Loriga being abandoned politically after Miguel's explusion by his
brother King Peter. In 1855, as a consequence of its support, it was stripped
of municipal status during the municipal reforms of the 19th century. At the
time of its municipal demise (October 1855), the municipality of Loriga included
the parishes of Alvoco da Serra, Cabeça, Sazes da Beira, Teixeira, Valezim and
Vide, as well as thirty other disincorporated villages. Loriga was an industrial centre for textile manufacturing during the 19th
century. It was one of the few industrialized centres in the Beira Interior
region, even supplanting Seia until the middle of the 20th century. Only
Covilhã out-preformed Loriga in terms of businesses operating from its lands;
companies such as Regato, Redondinha, Fonte dos Amores, Tapadas, Fândega, Leitão
& Irmãos, Augusto Luís Mendes, Lamas, Nunes Brito, Moura Cabral and Lorimalhas,
among others. The main roadway in Loriga, Avenida Augusto Luís Mendes, is
named for one of the villages most illustrious industrialists. The wool industry
started to decline during the last decades of the 20th century, a factor that
aggravated and accelerated the decline of the region. Geography
Known
locally as the "Portuguese Switzerland" due to its landscape that includes a
principal settlement nestled in the mountains of the Serra da Estrela Natural
Park. It is located in the south-central part of the municipality of Seia,
along the southeast part of the Serra, between several ravines, but specifically
the Ribeira de São Bento and Ribeira de Loriga; it is 20 kilometres from
Seia, 80 kilometres from Guarda and 300 kilometres from the national capital
(Lisbon). A main small town is accessible by the national roadway E.N. 231, that
connects directly to the region of the Serra da Estrela by way of E.N.338 (which
was completed in 2006), or through the E.N.339, a 9.2 kilometre access that
transits some of the main elevations (960 metres near Portela do Arão or Portela
de Loriga, and 1650 metres around the Lagoa Comprida). The region is carved by U-shaped glacial valleys, modelled by the movement of
ancient glaciers. The main valley, Vale de Loriga was carved by longitudanal
abrasion that also created rounded pockets, where the glacial resistance was
minor. Starting at an altitude of 1991 metres along the Serra da Estrela the
valley descends abruptly until 290 metres above sea level (around Vide), passing
villages such as Cabeça, Casal do Rei and Muro. The central town, Loriga, is
seven kilometres from Torre (the highest point), but the parish is sculpted by
cliffs, alluvial plains and glacial lakes deposited during millennia of glacial
erosion, and surrounded by rare ancient forest that surrounded the lateral
flanks of these glaciers. Economy
Textiles are the principal
local export; Loriga was a hub the textile and wool industries during the
mid-19th century, in addition to being subsistence agriculture responsible for
the cultivation of corn. The Loriguense economy is based on metallurgical
industries, bread-making, commercial shops, restaurants and agricultural support
services. While that textile industry has since dissipated, the town began to attract a
tourist trade due to its proximity to the Serra da Estrela and Vodafone Ski
Resort (the only ski center in Portugal), which was constructed within the
parish limits. Concise history by António Conde
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