Coordinates: 40°19′13.69″N 7°39′58.15″W / 40.3204694°N
7.6661528°W /
40.3204694;
-7.6661528
Loriga
Civil Parish (Vila)
The valley parish of Loriga in the shadow of the Serra da
Estrela
Official
name: Vila de Loriga
Country -
Portugal
Region -
Centro, Portugal
Subregion -
Serra da Estrela
District -
Guarda
Municipality - 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 XXX XXX
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 part of the municipality
of Seia, 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.