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A slender and winding road leads to the highest mountain in Portugal, unlike many other European peaks, where visitors can drive directly to the summit. The peak is 1993 meters above sea level, and although its actual name is Torre (Tower), most people call it": "Star Mountain".
During the day, a drive can enjoy the undulating landscape of this narrow country – from the red hills of Spain in the east to the blue Atlantic Ocean in the west. The real spectacle, however, comes when the sun begins to set. Not only is the mountain a popular spot to watch the golden sunset, but for those who stay, it also offers a glittering nighttime mural that covers the sky, which is made up of millions of white needles scattered on the cyan "cloth".
Over the past decade, Portugal has become one of the best places in the world for travelers to observe the night sky, thanks to the creation of the 3,000 square kilometres of "Dark Sky Reserves" in the Alentejo region of central Portugal. In 2011, the reserve was certified as the world's first starlight tourism destination by the Starlight Foundation, an international organization supported by UNESCO to promote science and tourism. This perception confirms that the region has ideal starry sky viewing conditions around the world (low levels of light pollution, an average of 286 cloudless nights per year, making the sky here appear particularly dark and pure), but it stimulates the star tourism infrastructure and makes you think that it was specially built for stargazers.
The Dark Sky Sanctuary is also the starting point for a three-hour road trip that takes you through some of the least light-polluted areas of Europe, winding along the protected areas of the region, where you will carefully plan activities and enjoy a "windy meal" and a "windy meal" feeling, and will make your way to your final destination, portugal's highest peak, the "Star Mountain".
On a particularly dark night in the village of Kumida, 300 kilometres south of the Estrela Mountains, we began our interstellar journey, where a school has been transformed into an observatory in the "Dark Sky Reserve", where stargazing sessions and astrophotography exhibitions take place. It's a great place for sturdy guides and star photographers, and you can also host a small "academic exchange" here.
The local portuguese government has also begun to realize this extremely unique and valuable natural resource, and through a period of development and research, it has proved that this resource has long been underestimated, and the "Dark Sky Reserve" is astronomically equivalent to the huge waves "discovered" by Nazaré surfers - it has been hidden in full view, waiting for the close observation of astronomy enthusiasts.
We were fortunate enough to meet a deep space expert who said that when he didn't take his team on a nighttime stargazing expedition, he would spend time photographing distant objects such as nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters. These things look blurry and glaring to the naked eye or even through the eyepieces of a telescope, but can become beautiful and mysterious when shooting.
"Our weather was very good, with very little cloud cover and no light pollution ... which made it perfect to photograph the sky."
Be aware that to get a good image, very specific weather conditions are required, and fortunately, the weather here is good, with very little cloud cover and no pollution and interference from the route, which makes the shooting sky perfect. Unlike developed coastal areas, portugal's remote areas are sparsely populated and far from the turbulence, which makes light sources from the starry sky easy to pick up.
The Yum Juma Observatory is open every night from Tuesday to Saturday, and travelers can use binoculars or monoculars to observe the moon, stars, and sun. All guides expertly guide us on a tour of the constellations and planets, as well as the Milky Way and the Great Nebula of Orion.
Orion Nebula
The next morning, we traveled through time instead of space, arriving at the 7,500-year-old Tropicle of Kromletsch before sunrise, another landmark on the Dark Sky Route, near the UNESCO World Heritage city of Évora. The largest prehistoric monument on the Iberian Peninsula has no gates and can be visited during the day or at night – it looks even more awe-inspiring under the pale glow of the moon.
Although at least 1,000 years before Stonehenge, Cromlage Stonehenge did not attract the attention of the scientific community until 1964, yet it did not meet the desired level of traffic and protection. For mario Carvalho, a local guide and experimental archaeologist, it can teach us more about what early humans knew about the world during the day and night.
Although at least 1,000 years earlier than Stonehenge, Cromlage Stonehenge did not come to the attention of the scientific community until 1964
This stone circle is arranged in a very complex way, and he shows us the scene. According to Carvalho, the stones follow a much more complex equinox direction than the winter solstice-based equinox direction used by Stonehenge. In order to find the vernal equinox, the builders will spend years observing the rise and fall of the moon and the sun, which also shows that the population at that time was fixed rather than nomadic, and through this we seem to travel through time and see a huge change in human activity and behavior during that period.
It basically hints to us the beginning of agricultural civilization, and from the earliest times we look to the sky for answers. Then during the Age of Discovery, Portuguese navigators used the starry sky to guide them to the New World and beyond. Interestingly, today we seem to be rekindling interest in outer space with the movement of the dark sky.
Driving through the sleepy countryside of the Alentejo, it's amazing how little modern development has had an impact on things. Large tracts of land are still cultivated in the same way as they were hundreds of years ago, with small herds of animals grazing under cork oaks and olive groves. The whitewashed villages also tell their own stories: street names echo the new land across the sea, and ancient churches boast frescoes for navigation and adventure. Hanging above it is the star-studded canopy of the region. That's an attraction in itself, but Apollo Nyaro Driggs, founder of the Dark Skies Sanctuary, has been working hard to develop new tourism products in order to bring in more profits. The 'Alchiva Dark Sky Route' is a network of local accommodation owners who support stargazing, which is open outside and outside, offering reservations for check-in, as there are more people coming and staying up all night. They have flexible cutlery and packed meals, making it easy to host a picnic.
The Dark Sky Reserve has an average of 286 cloudless nights per year, which is great for stargazing
The countryside here has a lake and can also take part in other activities such as moonlight wine tasting, night canoeing and "star parties" known as weekend festivals. In addition, there are daytime experiences during the day, such as visits to historical sites and cultural centers, as well as wonderful local cuisine and wine. Mm-hmm ~ ~, the only point is that I feel that there is not enough time, I want to see the stars at night, and I want to understand the customs and customs of a separate country during the day.
Driggs believes that stargazing is an important part of Portugal's sustainable tourism future. Mass tourism is not a goal, but a balance between local development and environmental protection, so that it can be polluted while providing a happy experience for people. She is using the lessons learned in the Dark Sky Reserve to help establish other Dark Sky Reserves in the north of the country to provide more stargazing conditions by increasing the number of observation points.
At the end of our journey, we pass through a series of narrow and rugged mountain roads to our last stop: the Estrela Mountains. In the second half we met Portuguese national Natalina Correa, who was on a road trip with her boyfriend and they were visiting the mountain for the second time and luckily we had the equivalent of two more tour guides.
Natalina Correa
Her boyfriend seems to enjoy driving on more challenging roads, and the winding gray tarmac will make you feel pretty cool. From here you can see Banga to the sea, which is incredible. The Portuguese coast faces the west and the sunset is unparalleled, but it is even more impressive here, and small countries also have beautiful scenery that belong to small countries.
The summit is truly a place to look forward to, where we can end the day's rushing and tiring, which provides a great opportunity to reflect on what we have learned along the way. Then, as its name suggests, as night came, The Star Mountain began to reveal its entire treasure. Thanks to our time at the observatory, we can now say something about the constellations, planets, and nebulae that are slowly moving into view.
However, perhaps what strikes us the most is choosing the right environment for observation. Stars – like many of life's most beautiful things – are slightly hidden from sight, but they can be fascinating once we find the right angle to observe.
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