Covilhã climbs the south-eastern slope of the Serra da Estrela, between 450 and 800 metres up, looking over the Cova da Beira valley. For centuries it was Portugal's wool capital: mountain flocks and stream water fed a large textile industry, so much so that it was called the "Portuguese Manchester". Today the old factories house the University of Beira Interior, which has given the town a young population.
The Wool Museum
The Museu de Lanifícios, run by the university, occupies the Real Fábrica de Panos, founded in 1764 by the Marquis of Pombal, and another old mill. You can see the dyeing vats, the machinery and three centuries of wool processing, from shearing to cloth. It is one of the best industrial museums in Portugal.
The town
Covilhã is a town of steep slopes, tackled with public lifts, funiculars and footbridges: the most spectacular is the Carpinteira footbridge, designed by the architect Carrilho da Graça, which spans a valley linking two neighbourhoods. In the old centre, around Praça do Município, are the church of Santa Maria, its façade entirely covered in azulejos, and the chapel of Santa Cruz. The town's walls are decorated with murals from the WOOL urban art festival, which has brought artists from all over the world. Covilhã was the birthplace of Pero da Covilhã, the explorer who in the late fifteenth century reached India and Ethiopia overland.
The mountain
From Covilhã a road climbs to Penhas da Saúde, a mountain resort with holiday homes, hotels and trails, and on to Torre, the summit, about half an hour's drive away. In winter it is the gateway to the ski area. Covilhã is served by trains on the Beira Baixa line and by the A23 motorway; Belmonte and Guarda are easy to reach from here.