Viseu is the only district of Portugal that does not border with Spain, nor with the sea, being located in the North Region- Center of Portugal and comprising three sub-regions: Dão Lafões, Douro and Tâmega.
It is one of the most mountainous districts of Portugal, being part of it, the massive saws of Lapa, with 953 meters, Leomil, with 1008 meters, Caramulo, with 1071 meters, Gralheira with 1116 meters, and Montemuro, with 1382 meters. In its valleys, it runs the tributaries of the Douro River, respectively the Tavora, the Varosa and the Paiva, and the Rivers Vouga, Dão and Mondego, besides several riversides.
In Viseu, there is the demarcated region of Dão, in a extension of approximately 376 000 hectares, where is cultivated the vineryeard between the mountain zones and valleys with gentle slopes and rounded, with a cold and rainy weather in Winter and hot and dry in the Summer, presenting unique conditions for wine production. In the region, is developed the cultivation of vineyards for the known wines of Dão and Lafões.
In this district, there are a large number of national monuments, between them, it highlights the Dolmen of Areita, in Sao Joao da Pesqueira, a pré-historic grave with about 5,000 years, the Castro of Nossa Senhora da Guia and the Chapel and the churchyard of Nossa Senhora da Guia, in São Pedro do Sul. It also highlights, the Dolmen and Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Monte, in Penedono, which is in ruins.
The capital of the district is Viseu, a very old city, located in a mountain system made up at North, by the saws of Leomil, Montemuro and Lapa, at the Northwest, the Serra do Arado, at South and Southwest, the Estrela and Lousã Serra, and at West, by the Serra do Caramulo, being even nicknamed the "City of Green Pine".
In Viseu, there are traces of human occupation, since the castreja civilization, formed in the first millennium before Christ and having been an important location in the times of the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.
Viseu is associated with the figure of Viriato, a leader of the Lusitanian tribe that fought the Romans during their presence in the Lusitanian territory, being died in the year 139 BC. It is thought that this warrior as born in Viseu.
With an extremely rich history, Viseu has also an important heritage of various levels. His biggest example is the See of Viseu, in its Gothic style, wich was built between the XIII-XIV centuries, where is installed the Sacred Art Museum of the Cathedral of Viseu, being classified as a National Monument.
The See Wide is one of the arteries of the city's historic center, opening the way for a pleasant walking by the winding streets that hides wealth at every turn.
Many other monuments are worth of noting in Viseu, as the Church of Misericórdia, in rococo style, the Door of Soar de Cima, open in the Afonsine fence of the fifteenth century, or the important museum Grão Vasco, with the name of one of the biggest Portuguese artists of the Renaissance.
The resident population is 394,844 inhabitants and the area is 5007 km ².
