Porto Formoso
Encyclopedia
Porto Formoso is a civil parish in the municipality of Ribeira Grande in the Portuguese
archipelago of the Azores
. The population in 2001 was 1267, covering an area of 11.46 km² (its density was 110 people per km²).
Gaspar Frutuoso (in Saudades da Terra), refers to the parish in these terms: "it makes a beautiful bay, and in the centre the locality of Porto Formoso, named for the things that exist there, it is clean and the best one in the north...".
The parochial church's patron is Nossa Senhora da Graça (Our Lady of Grace), and existed by the time that Pedro Vaz Pacheco ordered the erection of the Chapel of Bom Jesus (which included a crucifix and chanel to the Virgin) as a burial tomb for his descendents. The church was renovated throughout the centuries, becoming the simple facade of basalt rock and three interior naves.
In the civil parish, in the old roadway that connected Ribeira Grande to Furnas, is an obelisk (Obelisco da Ladeira da Velha) which was erected during the Liberal Wars (1829-34) to mark a long-forgotten engagement in the conflict.
The ravine continues to empty into the ocean on this site, dividing he white-sand beach, which is popular with tourists and local residents. Immediately near the beach is the Ladeira da Velha, where a natural mineral spring, rich in potassium, erupts from the coast with temperatures around 30ºC. A thermae was constructed in a small house to provide repose for people who took therapeutic mineral treatments from these waters.
Porto Formoso has a school, a lyceum, and a square (praça
).
. The terrain in this parish is devoted to agriculture and as pasture-lands, but several tracts are dedicated to the cultivation of tea plants, owing to the areas micro-climate.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
archipelago of the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. The population in 2001 was 1267, covering an area of 11.46 km² (its density was 110 people per km²).
History
The establishment of this civil parish remotes to the early part of the 16th century, as first recorded by Pedro Vaz Pacheco. On 2 June 1509, he ordered the construction of a Chapel of Bom Jesus, to serve his descendents. By the end of that century, the chapel had its own clergy, passing into a vicarage in 1568.Gaspar Frutuoso (in Saudades da Terra), refers to the parish in these terms: "it makes a beautiful bay, and in the centre the locality of Porto Formoso, named for the things that exist there, it is clean and the best one in the north...".
The parochial church's patron is Nossa Senhora da Graça (Our Lady of Grace), and existed by the time that Pedro Vaz Pacheco ordered the erection of the Chapel of Bom Jesus (which included a crucifix and chanel to the Virgin) as a burial tomb for his descendents. The church was renovated throughout the centuries, becoming the simple facade of basalt rock and three interior naves.
In the civil parish, in the old roadway that connected Ribeira Grande to Furnas, is an obelisk (Obelisco da Ladeira da Velha) which was erected during the Liberal Wars (1829-34) to mark a long-forgotten engagement in the conflict.
Geography
In the area of Praia dos Moinhos, a beach within an amphitheatre-like cliff face, the popular beach and locality developed from several watermills that were built along the ravine that flows into the ocean.The ravine continues to empty into the ocean on this site, dividing he white-sand beach, which is popular with tourists and local residents. Immediately near the beach is the Ladeira da Velha, where a natural mineral spring, rich in potassium, erupts from the coast with temperatures around 30ºC. A thermae was constructed in a small house to provide repose for people who took therapeutic mineral treatments from these waters.
Porto Formoso has a school, a lyceum, and a square (praça
Town square
A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, and town green.Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets,...
).
Economy
The region is best known for the tea factories that exist in the vicinty of one another: the Fábrica de Chá Porto Formoso, within Porto Formoso, and the neighbouring Gorreana tea factory in the neighbouring parish of São BrásSão Brás (Ribeira Grande)
São Brás is a parish in the district of Ribeira Grande in the Azores. The population in 2001 was 635, its density is 78.4/km² and the area is 8.1 km². São Brás is the smallest parish by population in Ribeira Grande....
. The terrain in this parish is devoted to agriculture and as pasture-lands, but several tracts are dedicated to the cultivation of tea plants, owing to the areas micro-climate.
Religious
- Hermitage of Nossa Senhora do Carmo
- Church of Nossa Senhora da Graça