Torre Plateau (Geosite), Seia, Covilhã e Manteigas

The Torre Plateau, with an elevation rising from about 1,500 m in the north, at Penhas Douradas, to 1993 m at the Alto da Torre, is the highest summit in mainland Portugal. About 20 million years ago, after a phase of tens of millions of years in which the interior of Portugal was marked by great plains, the collision between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa caused the uplift of the Serra da Estrela and of the Iberian Central System. This compression, induced the Estrela to rise almost as a single compartment, bounded by major faults in the northwest and southeast, between the two remnants of the original planation surface - to the northwest, the Mondego platform, and to the south, the Cova da Beira and the Surface of Castelo Branco. The presence of a plateau at the top of Estrela was essential for the development of a plateau ice-field with radiating valley glaciers, with significant consequences for landscape evolution. During the last two million years and throughout several long and cold phases, lasting tens of thousands of years, the so-called glacial periods, the Estrela showed significant glaciers that reached up to 66 km2. At Alto da Torre, 30 thousand years ago, the ice thickness was 90 meters, feeding several valley glaciers.

Torre 1

Torre 2

Torre 3

Torre 4

Torre 5

Torre 6