Távora River

The Távora River is a river that rises near Trancoso and flows north until it flows into the Douro River, of which it is a tributary. Its main tributaries are the Gradiz, Rio de Mel, Azores and Lezíria streams.

Távora
Location
CountryPortugal
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationTrancoso
Mouth 
 • location
Douro, Tabuaço
Basin size535.9 square kilometres (206.9 sq mi)

Originating in Trancoso (district of Guarda), it passes through many locations like Vila do Abade, Vila da Ponte (Sernancelhe), Escurquela, Riodades, Granjinha, Távora, Tabuaço, etc. going into the left bank of the Douro River after having traveled about 47 kilometers.[1]

It has an important reservoir, created by the Vilar Dam located between the parishes of Vilar and Fonte Arcada.[2] This reservoir helps to normalize the Douro River flows, It is used for the production of electricity and is also recently used for the abstraction of water for public supply.

Etymology

Távora comes from the Latin tabula which means plank or wood for planks and by extension chestnut trees, which in the ancient world were used to make planks of excellence.[3][4] Thus the Távora River means "river of the boards" or "chestnut trees", appropriate name for the time because the great valley of the Távora was flooded in chestnut trees, being still today the Council of Sernancelhe considered the land of the chestnut.

References
  1. SNIRH. "Atlas da Água".
  2. Infopédia. "Rio Távora".
  3. FERREIRA, Pedro Augusto - TENTATIVA ETYMOLOGICO-TOPONYMICA de Investigação da etymologia ou proveniência dos nomes das nossas povoações, Segundo Volume [Em linha]. Porto: Typografia Mendonça, 1915 pág. 240. Disponível em WWW:<URL:https://archive.org/details/tentativaetymolo02ferr>.
  4. FERREIRA, Pedro Augusto - TENTATIVA ETYMOLOGICO-TOPONYMICA de Investigação da etymologia ou proveniência dos nomes das nossas povoações, Terceiro Volume [Em linha]. Porto: Typografia Mendonça, 1915 pág. 63 e. Disponível em WWW:<https://archive.org/details/tentativaetymolo03ferr>.

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