Guarda is known as the "city of the five F's": Farta, Forte, Fria, Fiel e Formosa - abundant (or totally satisfied), strong, cold, loyal and beautiful.

The municipality is bordered by Pinhel to the north, to the east by Almeida, to the southeast by Sabugal, to the south by Belmonte and Covilhã, to the west by Manteigas and Gouveia, and to the northwest by Celorico da Beira.

Guarda railway station is served by the railway line Linha da Beira Alta, with international services towards Salamanca and Madrid, and domestic services to Pinhel, Vila Franca das Naves/Trancoso, Celorico da Beira, Gouveia, Nelas, Carregal do Sal, Santa Comba Dão, Mortagua, Luso/Buçaco and Pampilhosa.

Numerous motorcoach (long distance bus) services use these motorways to link Guarda with Porto, Lisbon and other Portuguese cities.

This theory was fiercely defended by General João de Almeida (influential Portuguese military man, hero of the African campaigns, native of Guarda), which has led some critics to disparage it.

[15] Although there are doubts about the place of birth, the Lusitanian warrior Viriathus (hero of Portuguese history to the present day) could have been born in the Guarda region in the "Herminios Mountains", corresponding to the current Serra da Estrela.

[16][17][16][18] His death by murder by traitors paid by Caepio, Roman consul and military man who participated in the Lusitanian War, occurred in Cabeço de Fráguas, in the current municipality of Guarda, in 139 or 138 BC.

[23] The city of Guarda was founded in 1199, in a location that was both difficult to reach and allowed as many as twenty leagues of the surrounding territory to be watched,[24] and Sancho I of Portugal transferred the diocese of Egitania (modern day Idanha-a-Velha) to Guarda,[25] while granting the city a charter that was based on the short charter of Salamanca.

[28] The city of Guarda was founded in a place much easier to defend, which would allow it to be taken Idanha as the main post of Beira Interior.

Between 1390 and 1396 the current Cathedral of Guarda was built, at the initiative of Bishop D. Frei Vasco after the support granted by the king John I.

[30] King Denis and Queen Elizabeth were in the Guarda region after their marriage, held on February 11, 1281, at the Royal Palace of Barcelona.

[31] The king signed the "Customs of Guarda" which consisted of letters from King Denis regarding the appeals of the residents of the villages and farms under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the bishop, on the income of 1,100 pounds that the county leased to Afonso, count of Boulogne, and also on the conflict that existed between the inhabitants of Vela and the inhabitants of Guarda (1311, 1315, 1321).

[32] In 1383 a college for poor students was created in the city by Bishop Afonso Correia II, associated with the Episcopal school of Guarda, existing since (at least) the 13th century.

[36] In the 1490s, when the expulsion of the Jews from Spain happened, Guarda received new inhabitants for its Jewish community, who would bring a new life to commerce in this border area.

In 1493, the born and resident of Guarda, Rui de Pina, planned the Treaty of Tordesillas and set out on a diplomatic mission to Castile.

[42][43] On September 21, 1597, the synod was held in which new statutes or constitutions of the bishopric of the city began, in order to accommodate the decrees of the Council of Trent, in the context of the Counter-Reformation of the Catholic Church.

[47] In 1762-1763 the Guarda region was invaded by Spanish forces, during the Seven Years' War, and several towns in the area were occupied by Spain, including Almeida.

In this institution, famous people related to literature and other intellectual areas in Portugal studied, including Vergílio Ferreira (writer awarded the Camões Prize), Eduardo Lourenço (essayist and philosopher) and Augusto Gil (neo-romantic poet)[55] In 1868, during the reign of Luis I, the publication of Guarda's O Egytaniense began, which was one of the first newspapers in Guarda and probably the first newspaper in the city.

[63] In May 1907, with the presence of King Carlos and Queen Amélia, the Sousa Martins Sanatorium was inaugurated in the city, the first of its kind that has been introduced by the National Assistance to tuberculosis victims.

These constituted a source of extreme importance for the reconstruction of the recent history of the various communities of the District during the implementation of the republican regime.

[69][70] On the night of April 24, 1974, Captain Augusto José Monteiro Valente, of the Guarda Infantry Regiment, arrested its commander and joined the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) that the following day was going to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Salazar and Caetano in the Carnation Revolution, being described as one of the brightest and most committed Portuguese military in this revolution.

Some of the most outstanding typical dishes are the following: roast lamb, rice with duck in the Guarda way, and Lagareiro cod, which can be easily found in regional cuisine restaurants.

At the time of the hunting season, unique dishes, such as hare rice "malandrinho", or wild boar with beans are eaten.

In the fall, Trancoso's edible mushroom stew (champignons) and chestnut soup are popular (it can also be eaten cooked, boiled, or sweet).

[89] Other clubs and associations of this type in the city include the Guarda Mountaineering Club, founded in 1981,[90] The Pinheiro Center for Sport, Culture and Social Solidarity, integrated into the Guarda Athletics Association,[91] the CSS - Associação de Desenvolvimento Carapito S. Salvador[92] and the Lameirinhas Sports and Recreation Group, dedicated to futsal.