Festivals - Flores Island - Azores - Acores

The Festival of the Holy Ghost is the most important in the island. A centuries-old tradition, it is closely connected with the religious feelings of the people of Flores. Enacting the rituals of the coronation of the "emperor", the showing of his insignia and celebration of the "bodo" or feast, attracts the inhabitants of the village and visitors. Similar festivals are held in every parish. The most important, lasting for two days, is at Santa Cruz, in which the town is decorated with flowers and coloured arches and there is dancing in the streets. With the presence of the crowns of the 27 emperors existing on the island, it is considered to be the most important festival of the Holy Ghost in the Azores.

Festival of the Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost festivals take place on Sundays after Whitsun until the summer. At Santa Cruz it is held on the last Sunday in August. Other festivals include the Folares (Easter cakes. including baked eggs), the processions of the Senhor dos Passos (Our Lord bearing His Cress), held on Good Friday in every parish. St. John s Festivals at Santa Cruz which attract many visitors, the Festival of Senhora das Flores held in honour of Our Lady at the Chapel called Capela dos Matos and the best frequented in the whole island, and the Emigrants Festival at Lajes das Flores on the 2nd week-end of July.

Fazendas das Lajes - Flores Islands - History

Church of Senhor Santo Cristo. Attractive place of worship (late l9th c ) representative of the religious architecture of the Azores. Carved woodwork. Equally worth visiting are the churches of Caveira, Fajã Grande, Lomba, Mosteiro and Ponta Deleada, as well as the impérios (chapels) of the Holy Ghost and other whitewashed chapels which, here and there, stand out in the green landscape as symbols of Azorean devotion and examples of the adaptation of architectural styles on an island which was isolated for centuries from European aesthetic currents.

Fajazinha - Flores Island - Art and History

Characteristic village hugging the shore. Near the Ribeira Grande waterfall, with a 300 metre drop. Picturesque ruins of old watermills.
Church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. Grandiose 18th c. building. Chancel. Sculptured woodwork. Images.

Santa Cruz - Flores Island - Azores History

Buildings with lovely lines, symbols of past prosperity. Typical harbour. Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição. Important l9th c. building with an elegant facade Chancel. Magnificent altar Church of São Boaventura. Part of a Franciscan monastery (17th c.). Baroque building. Chancel showing the influence of Mexican-Spanish art. Painting of the Annunciation of the Virgin (16th c.), attributed to an artist of the Portuguese school.

Elegant town

Lajes - Flores Island - Azores History

Picturesque town and fishing port, surrounded by green fields. Well worth a visit is the chapel of Nossa Senhora das Angústias (18th c.), built as the result of a vow made by Spanish nobles who were saved after the wreck of their galleon. Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário. 18th c. building. High Altar. Carved wood.

Fishing port - Lajes

The Odyssey of the "Alabama" - History - Flores - Azores

During the American Civil War the Southern forces used privateers as one way to attack the Northern merchant navy. The most famous of them all was the "Alabama" which, built in England in 1862, came to receive her armament and ammunitions near Flores and then immediately started out in pursuit of the Northern whalers which were in local waters and rapidly sank them. After that, the "Alabama" continued as a privateer, sinking about 70 ships until, in June 1864 she was attacked and destroyed by the "Kearsarge", of the United States Navy in the area of the English Channel. The transfer of the "Alabama" to the Confederates cost England an indemnity of over 15 million dollars in gold for the damages she had caused.

One of the crewmen of the "Alabama", was a brave sailor from the island of Corvo who, after his adventures, was nicknamed Alabama. His descendants still live on Corvo.

Death of a Pirate - History - Flores - Azores

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Azores served as a base for the restocking and protection of the Spanish galleons filled with valuable treasure from Mexico and Peru and, for that reason, their waters were infested by pirates.

In 1591. a fleet of 16 English privateers, under the command of Sir Thomas Howard, cast anchor off the north coast of Flores to plunder the island, rest the crew and wait for the galleons to arrive. Warned in time of the presence of a Spanish defence squadron with a larger number of ships, the English fleet, except for the Revenge under the command of Sir Richard Grenville, was able to withdraw rapidly. Sir Richard delayed his flight, either waiting for his crew's return, or he thought that the approaching sails belonged to the galleons filled with treasures having been sighted, and choosing to fight instead of running away, the Revenge threw herself at the Spanish fleet and for hours resisted heroically the attacks of many enemy vessels until she was boarded and her last twenty defenders, among them Sir Richard Grenville, were taken prisioner by the flagship San Pablo. Sir Richard died 2 few days later.

This heroic deed the subject of a poem by Tennyson, is viewed by some historic artist as a demonstration of the "intolerable pride" and "insatiable ambition" of Sir Richard Grenville, which made him hated by men under his command and feared by his enemies.

The Telegraph Cables - Horta - Faial - Azores History

With the laying in 1893 of the first telegraph cable linking Horta to Carcavelos in Portugal, the first step was taken in a sequence that would make the town one of the largest telecommunications centres in the world in the first half of this century. The initial cable, laid with the prime purpose of transmitting the meteorological observations needed to forecast the weather in the Azores and its influence in Europe, was joined in 1900 by cables of German and American companies, and completed by further moorings in 1903 and 1904. After the 1st World War, new cables were laid in 1924,1925, 1926 and 1928. The 15 cables that linked Horta to the main capitals of the world required skilled personnel for their maintenance and operation as well as suitable technical facilities. A series of buildings that came to change the town's appearance were therefore constructed on the street named after Consul Dabney; they are a witness to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of that golden period in which people of various nationalities fraternised with the local population at festivals, sporting events and walks about the island.

Testimonies to that period are the buildings of the German company, D. A. T. now occupied by government offices but retaining their original design (the outstanding feature being the ballroom with stained-glass windows) and the group of the American company, Western Union, which has been adapted to serve as a hotel. Technological developments expanded the capacity of telephone cables to transmit messages while there was greater use of the radio and later satellites. All this led to the gradual extinction of the companies that operated in Horta, the farewell ceremony of the last company having taken place at the end of 1969.

Horta and Weather Forecasting - Horta - Faial - Azores

Mentioned almost daily to justify the good and bad weather in the forecasts for Europe and North America, the Azores are a region in the middle of the Atlantic where changes in atmospheric pressure take place and influence the climatic conditions in a vast geographical area. The importance of this phenomenon was stressed by Prince Albert of Monaco during the several oceanographic expeditions he carried out in the archipelago in the second half of the l9th century. This led to the setting up in-the Azores of meteorological observatories, the first and most important being that at Monte das Moças in Horta, the observations of which were transmitted by submarine cable to Lisbon, London, Paris, Hamburg and Washington.

The Whalers and Moby Dick - Faial - Horta - Azores History

The hulls were as black as coffins, The ships stank of oil and death. They were the hunters of the sea, the whalers. And every year they came to Porto Pim inlet to rest their crews and leave barrels of whale oil.
Horta was part of the odyssey of those rough men who would leave New Bedford to return years later, tired, sick and not always rich. Horta therefore appeared on the cyclorama painted on cloth that was displayed from town to town in the United States to show the life of the whalers, their ports of call and their hard toil.
In the spring and summer months, dozens of whalers would take shelter behind Mounts Queimado and Guia, All had Azorean crewmen, attracted by the risk and pay. They were appreciated for their resistance and courage, like the young Daniel who, in the famous book by Herman Melville, took part in the implacable chase of the great white whale, Moby Dick.

Long Tom - Horta - Faial - Azores History

In the battle between the American privateer "General Armstrong" and a British fleet in Horta bay in 1814, a cannon called Long Tom played a decisive role.
Made in France in 1786, it was part of the armament of the "Hoche", a vessel captured by the English during the Napoleonic wars. Sold to the United States, the cannon was set up on the poop of the "General Armstrong", and its destructive shots repeated the ships of the British fleet until the American brig was finally sunk.
Long Tom was recovered from the bottom of the harbour and after many years of service in Santa Cruz castle was granted to the United States in 1892. It is now on display at the Naval Arsenal in Washington.

The Dabney Family - Horta - Faial - Azores

John Dabney arrived in Horta towards the end of 1808 with the mission of serving as the first consul in the Azores of the young republic of the United States of America. A far-sighted business man. he soon set up store houses that attracted ships to Horta to put on fresh provisions and repair rigging and hulls, Outstanding among these ships were the whalers that would stay there for a month to rest their crews and unload whale oil. John Dabney, and later his heirs, also engaged in the export of Pico wine (then very famous) and oranges; the latter were then an exotic fruit in the United States, and thousands of cases of them were sent there every year in specially chartered ships.

The destruction of the vineyards and orange orchards by blights in the second half of the l9th century resulted in a sharp drop in the volume of business which led the Dabney family to leave Horta and therefore the Azores in 1892. Traces of their stay in Horta can still be seen in the town houses Fredónia and The Cedars and the charming villa called Bagatelle, as well as the former storehouses situated on the isthmus connecting Monte Oueimado and Monte Guia at Porto Pim.

Faial Island - Pan American Clippers at Horta in 1940

The invention of liquid fuel lead to a decrease in the number of visiting ships but a new chapter in Faial's history began - Sea aviation. The First seaplane to set down in Horta was owned by Captain Albert C. Read, in 1919 and many others followed his trail to the New World. Until the end of the Second World War, it was usual to see numerous Pan American's giant clippers or Lufthansa, Imperial Airways and Air France seaplanes anchored in the harbour.

Faial History - Eruption of the Capelinhos in 1957 After the War

Once more modern technology determined the end of the need to stopover at Horta, but its people did resign easily. The population became poorer and became totally dependent on whale hunting and agriculture. On September 27, 1957 erupted the Capelinhos Volcano and lasted for over a year, destroying the surrounding agricultural fields due to the dense sand and ash covering and provoking serious damages. Then came as help measure from the Massachusetts Senator a permit allowing the immigration of 4500 people to that US state from the parishes of Capelo, Praia do Norte and Cedros. In the seventies the opening of the airport woke the tourism industry and the archipelago's autonomy favoured and stimulated the population. Joining the European Community brought development with it and the average lifestyle has greatly improved since then.

Faial History - America whaling ships anchored at Horta in 1911 The Golden Years

In the XVIII century the village grew with the help of its excellent harbour that, in addition to being a merchandise market also served as a refueling centre of the international shipping routes of the post-industrial era. In 1837 the wine and whale exportation industries reached its maximum and following a new source of employment and profits was born - the American whaling, initiated by its consul who greatly helped Faial’s development, Charles Dabney. Afterwards started the civil war between Portuguese Liberals and Absolutists, being the first strongly helped by the people of Faial and promoting Horta to the category of town on July 4, 1833. Coal storage companies were installed to supply the new steam-engine ships but, in 1857 a severe cyclone lead a new immigration spree of 1523 people who had been left penniless to Brazil, USA, Britain and France. The number of steam-engine and wind ships did not stop increasing and in one of them arrived Prince Albert of Monaco, who spent some time in Faial promoting several scientific expeditions. At the start of this century submarine cables became essential to telecommunications between America and Europe and it was in Horta, owing to its excellent strategic position, that British and German cable companies decided to install their intermediate stations. The city develops and becomes urbanized, the harbour's dock is built, roads are surfaced and the public electric network is inaugurated.

Faial History - Horta as seen by Edward Wright in 1589 Difficult Times

During the sixty years of Spanish occupation of Portugal, the archipelago became an easy prey for pirates and privateers that infested the Atlantic, searching for riches. In 1583 a Spanish fleet captured Faial and so the enemies of Spain became then also enemies of the occupied Portuguese. Among the British and French that attacked Faial were the squadrons of those of the Counts of Cumberland and of Essex that, in 1589 and 1597 respectively, pillaged defenseless populations, taking everything on their way, burning churches and convents and leaving traces of extreme violence, not only in the village but also in the rest of the island. To prevent such incidents from ever happening again, an impressive set of fortified walls was then built across the island, including the forts of Greta, São Sebastião, Stª Cruz, Boa Viagem, Bom Jesus, Alagoa, etc, totaling 21 in the XVIII century. Even though, the Cabeço do Fogo Volcano in 1672 made the island aware of its vulnerability, and although its economy remained stable, it suffered great damages and the loss of 400 people who immigrated to Brazil.

Faial History - Discovery and Settlement

Although it cannot be proved, it is said that Faial, firstly called Ventura, was discovered together with all the others in 1427 by Diogo de Silves, pilot of the King of Portugal. In 1432 Prince Henry then ordered the Flemish nobleman Josse Van Huerter to take charge of the island and to proceed with its settlement, although there was already a small Portuguese community from Terceira in the Cedros. The Flemish firstly settled in Almofariz Beach, but did not find any water supply there, and so moved to the valley which still holds its name in their memory - Flamengos. The Prince renamed the island São Luís and the arriving Flemish and Portuguese settled in Porto Pim (from the Flemish "safe port") and in Conceição, near the Espalamaca headland (from the Flemish "needle tip"). The Orta Village was then formed (the name was probably taken after Huerter), and the island was given the name of Fayal, due to the large number of trees of that species existing there. With the very profitable pastel plantations (dyeing plant), more Portuguese arrived and after some time the Flemish influence faded away.

Capelinhos Volcano - Faial - The Volcano That Came From The Sea

27 September 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Capelinhos Volcano at the western end of Faial, one of the islands in the Azores.

There were huge limitations on the study of underwater volcanic activity until it became possible to study the planet in a wide variety of ways from more or less sophisticated satellites after the 1980s. For reasons known only to Mother Nature, the Capelinhos Volcano broke through the island’s crust along the same fault as genetically similar predecessors (such as the Costado da Nau Volcano) at the westernmost end of Faial.

After so many years, Capelinhos can still be considered unique in the world of volcanological science, as it was photographed, observed, studied and interpreted right from the beginning (around 7 a.m. on 27 September 1957) until it “fell asleep” on a quiet afternoon of 24 October 1958. All this attention was the result of the proximity to Faial of an inimitable local engineer called Frederico Machado (Director of the District Public Works Department) and the team that he set up while the volcanic activity and the erosion period lasted. His work was, of course, authorised by the Civil Governor, Freitas Pimentel, a physician by profession. He was sensitive to nature’s manifestations and concerned for the safety of the local inhabitants for whom he was responsible.


All the departments of the General Council of the Horta District and the central government, represented by the Minister of Public Works, Arantes e Oliveira, sent substantial financial resources to the island. In reaction to the economic and social catastrophe, the Azorean community living in the United States used its influence to open an extraordinary quota of emigrants (the so-called “volcano victims”) which reduced the island’s population by around one half in little over a year.

After almost 50 years, the new land in Capelinhos, attacked by winters of differing rhythms and intensities, is much smaller (less than 50%) but it will still be one of Faial’s landmarks for another few years yet (for visitors and scientists finding explanations of active-phase phenomena in the interior of volcanoes being destroyed by erosion).

VOLCANOLOGICAL SUMMARY
Like all the other islands in the Azores, Faial is of volcanic origin and developed in four stages at different times. The oldest stage must have begun around 800,000 years ago and was responsible for the horsts in Ribeirinha, Pedro Miguel and Ponta da Espalamaca. The most recent stage, the growth of the island, involves a line of volcanic cones in the Capelo area, with its western end marked by the Capelinhos Volcano.

The Capelinhos Volcano is proof that many of the islands in the Azores are divided into volcanically active sectors. In practical terms, this means that volcanic episodes are going to occur in different parts of the islands over the centuries.

The Capelinhos Volcano is one of the best examples in the world of vulcanology, not only because people continue to observe it but also because of the originality of its development. In other words, Capelinhos was a sequential example of the birth and development of the Azores. It began as an underwater volcano and ended up as a land volcano.

Capelinhos did not appear from one moment to the next. It was preceded by periods of seismic activity that began in early May 1957 and reached their peak on 16 and 27 September 1957.

On the morning of the 27th, the earth was shaking and the whale spotters at Costado da Nau, a few metres above the Capelinhos Lighthouse, saw the ocean churning to the west, half a mile from the shore. Alarmed, they ran down to the lighthouse and warned the lighthouse keepers and their fellow whalers at Comprido harbour. This was no whale or other creature, the sea was boiling and there was a foul smell!

The authorities were called and launches and whaleboats set off for Castelo Branco. Families bundled up their belongings and went down to the whaleboats.

At 7 a.m. the ocean was billowing smoke, and the first ash appeared at 8, like bursts of Japanese cedar. That’s how the underwater phase of the Capelinhos Volcano began. Another three vents appeared a few hours later to make four in all. By the end of the day, there was a column of steam more than four kilometres high visible from all the central islands.

In early October, there was so much ash (sand and dust with occasional blocks of basalt) that it created a horseshoe-shaped islet opening to the southwest. It was given the name of Ilha Nova (New Island). When the wind veered to the west the ash fell on Faial and destroyed all the vegetation. As time went by, it began to cover houses, gardens, pastures and roads.

The first Ilha Nova disappeared on the night of 29 October but further activity in early November repeated the phenomenon (bursts of ash, blocks and clouds flying high or darkened with sand) and the second Ilha Nova was born. Until then scientists had been unaware that there was extensive movement of the seabed during this type of eruption. This was the first lesson learned from Capelinhos...

In November the new islet joined the old Capelinhos islets (left over from a similar eruption in the past) and formed an isthmus to Faial, making it bigger.

On 16 December 1957, to everyone’s amazement, instead of ash the Capelinhos Volcano began to spout bright showers of molten basalt – a breathtaking spectacle!

In late December the ash returned and once or twice there were signs of lava, especially along the lines of craters. The earth shook all the time. It was a volcanic tremor, a phenomenon explained by the scientists who came from the four corners of the earth.
Among them was Tazieff, the famous Belgian vulcanologist, who made friends with the Faial people and with whom I spent time for many years.

In the first three months of 1958 there were mostly episodes of underwater activity, with pointed, cypressoid jets, some of them impressively large and high. When the wind blew from the west, life on Faial was unbearable. The ash reached Horta and the smell of sulphur pervaded everything.

The volcanic centres moved more to the east, coming closer to the “old island”. The lighthouse was bombarded with ash and basalt blocks and it was only by chance that none of the many onlookers were hit as they stood on their viewpoint more than a kilometre away.

In the first four months of 1958, there were several variations in underwater activity at Capelinhos. The isthmus grew and Ilha Nova was now part of Faial, the “old island”. Long beaches were formed and filled the bays of Varadouro and Praia do Norte.

In May 1958, the landscape of the Capelinhos Volcano changed drastically. The underwater phase gave way to strombolian eruptions and incandescent lapilli. On the night of the 12th, a lake of lava with high jets of molten basalt appeared. Meanwhile, the centre of the Caldeira Volcano erupted and belched very fine, greyish ash. Fortunately this volcanic phase was limited to Capelinhos and the caldera did not follow suit.
On the night of the 12th, Faial was shaken by a violent earthquake and some geological faults moved. Some faults in the outer caldera area rose 1.5 metres and two-metre-wide clefts opened up in parts of Praia do Norte. All the houses in Praia do Norte collapsed and many homes in Norte Pequeno and Capelo were severely damaged. No-one was killed because that evening Frederico Machado advised Governor Freitas Pimentel to evacuate people from their homes. It was a remarkable but risky decision! I remember the warnings very clearly.

From May onwards, the Capelinhos Volcano moved into its land phase, emitting incandescent lapilli and long rivers of pahoehoe and a’a lava.

This phase, which substantially increased the area of “new land” and built a cone of lapilli that can still be seen today, lasted until October 1958. It emitted 24 million cubic metres of molten basalt.

The last strombolian eruptions of reddish lapilli occurred without warning on 24 October 1958. The degasification, cooling and erosion process began on the 25th and has lasted to the present day.

Victor Hugo Forjaz
Vulcanologist at the University of the Azores and the Azores Volcanological and Geothermal Observatory

More information in Vulcao dos Capelinhos

Criacao Velha - Sao Mateus - Candelaria - Sao Caetano (or Prainha do Sul) - Pico Island - Azores

Criação Velha
Of advanced age, as its very name indicates (Criação Velha means Old Creaton), it is still the true home of verdelho wine, with golden grapes that ripen on large beds of lava at the place called Lagido. Place to visit: Church of Nossa Senhora das Dores.

Moinho do Frade - Lajido da Criação Velha

São Caetano (or Prainha do Sul)
It is still called Prainha do Galeão (literally, Little Beach of the Galleon) because of the ship built there by Garcia Gonçalves Madruga in the 16th c. to pay debts owed to King João III. Magnificent bay.
Belonging to the parish is the locality called Terra do Pão, with a small church dedicated to St Margaret.
Place to visit: Church of São Caetano.

São Mateus
One of line oldest villages in the island. Its foundation dates back to 1482. An alternative port for connections with Faial and one of the last existing bases for whale hunting. Land of lace-makers, who produce excellent crochet work.
Place to visit: Church of São Mateus.

Candelária
Picturesque village in an area or vineyards and orchards. Birthplace of the late cardinal, José da Costa Nunes. Place to visit: Church of Nossa Senhora das Candeias.

Lajes do Pico and Sao Joao - Pico Island - Art and History

Lajes do Pico
The first settlement on the island. Important fishing and commercial port. Whale hunting centre with a centuries-old tradition. Old houses, with dressed stones and balconies running the length of the facade, revealing past prosperity. Picturesque views of the port, with its houses by the sea, and of the volcano of Pico. Curious plant for making dairy products.
Place to visit: Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição; Chapel of São Pedro and Whalers' Museurn. Set up in the former Boat-House. Whaling-boat with its equipment. Products of the whaling industry. Important collection of scrimshaw made from the teeth, bones and ivory of the sperm whale. At the place called Silveira, the only source of mineral water in the island.

São João
Set between two mistérios, destroyed by the volcanic eruption of 1718 which buried its original church, it has a small port, one of the first that was used as a whale hunting base. Its inhabitants, whose men work on land and or the sea like most of the people of Pico, have won fame for making the savoury cheese that bears the name of the parish.
Place to visit: Church of São João Baptista.