Serra da Lousa

The Serra de Lousa, a quartz and schist massif eroded into picturesque rock formations, extends southwest of the mighty granite ridge of the Serra da Estrela southeast of Coimbra. Reaching a height of 1,204m/3,950ft in the Alto do Trevim, it falls sharply down to the Lousa basin in the north and is bounded on the south by the Zêzere valley. The main crop is the maize grown on terraces in the often narrow river valleys, and there is also grazing of sheep and goats.