Miranda do Douro | |
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 Cathedral | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
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| Coordinates:41°29′39″N6°16′27″W / 41.49417°N 6.27417°W /41.49417; -6.27417 | |
| Country |  Portugal |
| Region | Norte |
| Intermunic. comm. | Terras de Trás-os-Montes |
| District | Bragança |
| Parishes | 13 |
| Government | |
| • President | Artur Manuel Rodrigues Nunes (PS) |
| Area | |
• Total | 487.18 km2 (188.10 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 752 m (2,467 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 7,482 |
| • Density | 15/km2 (40/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+00:00 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+01:00 (WEST) |
| Postal code | 5210 |
| Area code | 273 |
| Patron | Santa Maria Maior |
| Website | http://www.cm-mdouro.pt/ |
Miranda do Douro (European Portuguese:[miˈɾɐ̃dɐðuˈðo(w)ɾu]ⓘ;Mirandese:Miranda de l Douro[miˈɾɐ̃dɐðɨlˈdowɾʊ];Spanish:Miranda de Duero) is a city and a municipality in thedistrict of Bragança, northeasternPortugal. The population in 2011 was 7,482,[1] in an area of 487.18 km2.[2] The town proper had a population of 1,960 in 2001.[3] Referred to as the"Cidade Museu" of theTrás-os-Montes region, it is located 86 kilometres fromBragança, preserving many of its medieval and Renaissance-era traditions and architecture. It has a language of its own,Mirandese, which enjoys official status in Portugal, in addition to cultural and historical discontinuity with the rest of the Portuguese state. The town is locatedon the border withSpain, with theDouro River separating the two countries. The nearest town in Spain isZamora.
The present mayor is Artur Manuel Rodrigues Nunes (Socialist). The municipal holiday is on 10 July.
The origin of Miranda do Douro as a populated place is still discussed by historians, but archeologist discoveries give evidence that inhabitants had been living there during theBronze Age. Around AD 716, the Moors defeated localVisigothic tribes, and occupied some of the lands, calling the areaMir-Hândul.[4]
By the late 11th century,León possessed the region as a stepping-stone toPortugal.[4] The settlement of the village of Miranda developed through the initiative of KingDenis, in an area that lay between the lateral slopes of theDouro andFresno Rivers. It was in Miranda that theTreaty of Alcanices was signed between Denis andFerdinand IV of Castile, setting the border between theKingdom of Portugal and theCrown of Castile.[5]
Miranda was founded on 18 December 1286, and immediately elevated to the status ofvila (English:town), with one of its prerequisites declaring that the administrative division would be a Crown fief.[5] From that period forward, Miranda became progressively one of the most important towns that skirted theTrás-os-Montes region.[5]
The Castilians occupied Miranda do Douro during the late 14th century, and would remain there until they were expelled byJohn I of Portugal.[4] On 10 July 1545, KingJohn III elevatedMiranda do Douro to the status of city, at the same time becoming the firstdiocese in Trás-os-Montes (in apapal bull on 22 May 1545 by Pope Paul III, which segmented a major part of the archdiocese of Braga.[5] Miranda, therefore, became the capital of the Trás-os-Montes, seat of the bishopric (that included the residence of the bishop, canons and ecclesiastical authorities), military governorship and civil centre.[5]
In 1762, during theSeven Years' War, the army ofCharles III of Spain invaded the Trás-os-Montes. During the course of his invasion, the gunpowder magazine (with over 500 barrels of powder) was hit by a cannon, destroying the four towers of the castle and many of the barrios in the vicinity.[4][5] Approximately a third of the city's population (about 400 residents) were killed, resulting in the ruin of the religious, demographic and urbanized portion of Miranda.[4][5] It was almost two years later (1764) thatfriar Aleixo Miranda Henriques (then the twenty-third bishop) would abandon Miranda, moving toBragança, which had become a rival episcopal seat in the northeast part of Portugal.[5] By 1680, it was the only ecclesiastical seat in the region.
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The area was served by a narrow gauge railway, theSabor line(Linha do Sabor), which ran over 100 km between Duas Igrejas-Miranda and the southern terminus atPocinho, where connections could be made to the main line toPorto. The Sabor line closed in 1988.
Miranda do Douro is located in a region that skirts the border between the Portuguese Trás-os-Montes region, and the Spanish autonomous community ofCastile and León. The relief in this region is influenced by hard quartzite deposits near the border region, making erosion difficult, resulting in high escarpments and cliffs. The soils are composed ofschists andgranite bedrocks.
TheParque Natural do Douro Internacional (English:Douro International Nature Park), which encompasses the municipalities ofFigueira de Castelo Rodrigo,Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Miranda do Douro andMogadouro, includes an area of 85,150 hectares (328.8 sq mi), along the border portion of the Douro River. It was created on 11 May 1998 to encompass the constituent territories that encompass the Rivers Douro and Águeda, along the Spain-Portugal border that include similar geological and climatic conditions, and to help support flora and fauna in the region, while allowing appropriate human activities. The creation of the complementaryParque Natural de Arribes in Spain, allowed the systematic protection of an area that encompassed the larger ecosystem and biome.
Miranda do Douro has a warm-summerMediterranean climate (Csb). Due to its inland location in theNordeste Transmontano, the area experiences extreme weather fluctuations. A common saying of the region goes:Em Miranda há nove meses de Inverno e três de Inferno ("In Miranda there are nine months of winter and three months of Hell").[6] Summers tend to be dry and warm; while winters are rigorously cold with some snowfall,[6] having average minimum temperatures hovering around 0 °C (32 °F) in January, and frequently falling negative, with 70 days of frost per year on average.[7] The summer is completely opposite: hot and dry with maximum temperatures hovering around 30 °C (86 °F).[8]
| Climate data for Miranda do Douro, elevation: 693 m or 2,274 ft, 1971-2000 normals and extremes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.5 (61.7) | 20.0 (68.0) | 23.8 (74.8) | 28.5 (83.3) | 31.4 (88.5) | 36.1 (97.0) | 39.4 (102.9) | 40.8 (105.4) | 38.6 (101.5) | 29.2 (84.6) | 23.2 (73.8) | 20.5 (68.9) | 40.8 (105.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) | 11.0 (51.8) | 14.1 (57.4) | 15.6 (60.1) | 19.3 (66.7) | 24.7 (76.5) | 28.8 (83.8) | 28.9 (84.0) | 24.9 (76.8) | 18.4 (65.1) | 12.6 (54.7) | 9.2 (48.6) | 18.0 (64.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.1 (39.4) | 6.1 (43.0) | 8.3 (46.9) | 10.0 (50.0) | 13.4 (56.1) | 17.9 (64.2) | 21.2 (70.2) | 21.1 (70.0) | 17.9 (64.2) | 12.7 (54.9) | 7.8 (46.0) | 5.4 (41.7) | 12.2 (53.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.0 (32.0) | 1.1 (34.0) | 2.5 (36.5) | 4.4 (39.9) | 7.6 (45.7) | 11.1 (52.0) | 13.5 (56.3) | 13.4 (56.1) | 11.0 (51.8) | 7.2 (45.0) | 3.1 (37.6) | 1.5 (34.7) | 6.4 (43.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −12.3 (9.9) | −11.6 (11.1) | −13.2 (8.2) | −5.2 (22.6) | −3.4 (25.9) | 2.1 (35.8) | 5.1 (41.2) | 4.3 (39.7) | −0.2 (31.6) | −4.9 (23.2) | −6.0 (21.2) | −7.4 (18.7) | −13.2 (8.2) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 62.9 (2.48) | 54.2 (2.13) | 29.9 (1.18) | 56.4 (2.22) | 59.3 (2.33) | 35.9 (1.41) | 16.3 (0.64) | 14.4 (0.57) | 33.8 (1.33) | 60.5 (2.38) | 61.7 (2.43) | 76.4 (3.01) | 561.7 (22.11) |
| Average precipitation days | 11.3 | 10.8 | 8.6 | 11.7 | 11.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 5.8 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 12.0 | 104.5 |
| Average snowy days | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 3.1 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 100.2 | 137.9 | 200.7 | 203.7 | 248.0 | 306.4 | 348.1 | 331.7 | 227.7 | 183.4 | 136.9 | 93.2 | 2,517.9 |
| Source:Instituto de Meteorologia[7] | |||||||||||||
Administratively, the municipality is divided into 13 civil parishes (freguesias):[9]
Miranda do Douro istwinned with:[10]
Aranda de Duero, SpainBimenes, Spain
The city has been isolated from the rest of the country for many centuries, so the ancestral way of life is still vivid in the traditions and even in the language (see below). Apart from the distance, the weather conditions are also an adversary, as it is very cold and snowy in winter, and very dry and hot in summer.
Gastronomy is one of the local hallmarks, well within the tradition of Trás-os Montes. "Posta à Mirandesa", a heavy, thick steak, is the traditional dish, known and imitated through the rest of the country. The wine from the region has a high alcoholic graduation (17–18°) and matches the regional cuisine well.
The city's old quarter, with the cathedral, dates back to theMiddle Ages. Most houses are small and one story high. Inside the old city proper lie the town hall and museum, the "Museu da Terra de Miranda" (museum of the lands of Miranda), which has displays of archaeological findings, farm life, local clothing, and traditional masks.
The city has no industries but depends on commercial activity, mainly the sale of house textiles and cutlery from the village ofPalaçoulo. Spaniards come in great number on holidays and weekends. There are several hotels, among them the Pousada de Santa Catarina, which overlooks the Douro River.
The surrounding area is home to the speakers ofMirandese (Mirandês), a language of theAstur-Leonese family, related toAsturian andLeonese.[11] Mirandese was recognised in 1999 by the Portuguese state as co-official withPortuguese for local matters, and an estimate of between 10,000 and 15,000 people speak the language.[12]
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Miranda do Douro is in the middle ofDouro International Natural Park, also known as Parque Natural do Douro Internacional in Portuguese, which is a protected natural area located in northeasternPortugal and northwesternSpain. The natural park promotes the unique ecological and cultural heritage of the region.
The park is situated along theDouro River, which forms the border between Portugal and Spain for a significant portion of its course. It covers an area of approximately 85,000 hectares (210,000 acres), with about two-thirds of the park located inPortugal and the remaining third inSpain.
The walking trail from Miranda do Douro toSão João das Arribas is a beautiful route in Portugal that offers stunning views of the Douro River and the surrounding landscapes. The trail starts in Miranda do Douro and leads to São João das Arribas, which is known for its impressive cliffs overlooking theDouro River.[13]
Media related toMiranda do Douro at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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