Mata Nacional do Buçaco – protected area in Portugal
Mata Nacional do Buçaco (National forest Buçaco) is a protected area in the central part of Portugal. It lies on the slopes of the Buçaco mountains close to the well-known spa Luso. It is located approx. 25 km from historic city of Coimbra and about 40 km from the Atlantic coast. It has a maximum length of 950 meters between the Port of Sula and Port of Coimbra.
Photo published with a kind permission of its author Paulo Heitlinger
On the area of 105 hectares you can find incredible 700 kinds of trees, including giant Mexican cedar, giant ferns, cypress, plane, evergreen oak, cork, etc. Forest Buçaco is surrounded by a wall which is 5750 meters long and 3 meters high.
The climate is mild with few frosts and exceptionally snow. The annual rainfall is about 1500 mm, with 130 days of rain annually. The temperature ranges between 39-40 ºC in summer and 1 °C in winter. The fogs are very frequent and dense here, and less frequently in spring and winter than in summer and autumn.
Mata Nacional do Buçaco is a popular tourist destination – here you can walk through the forest paths, lakes, fountains and chapels. Beautiful is the local hotel Palácio Hotel do Buçaco, which was originally built in 1907 in an exuberant Neo-Manueline style by the royal family as their residence. Next to it lies the cork church.
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Category: Nature Reserves, Portugal
