Praça do Municipio - Its pavement and its fountain and other Funchal, Portugal Things to Do Tips

Madeira's capital, Funchal has an understated elegance about it. It is a town (it's hardly large enough to be called a city, we guess) of a few stately open avenues, lots of narrow winding streets and expensive villas. Therefore it has a large number of sightseeing opportunities; don't miss the Praça do Municipio (Municipal Square) with all it has to offer.

The Municipal Square dates back to the 15th century and has two important features, which you can see: its pavement and its fountain. The square is beautifully hand-paved with black lava stone and white marble stone. The fountain, dated 1942, is in the centre of the square and it is made of squared stone, with an obelisk where you can see the city coat of arms and other elements of national character. From this square you can also see three important buildings: the City Hall, the Sacred Art Museum and the Igreja de Sao Joao Evangelista, more commonly known as Colegio Church.

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Address: Praça do Municipio, Funchal.
Directions: Right in the city centre, you won't miss it!
Website: www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

Once we were on the Praça do Municipio (Municipal Square) we had some trouble to decide where to go first, because it's a bit overwhelming all this amazing square has to offer. At the north side of the square you'll find Igreja Sao Joao Evangelista (the Colegio Church). In 1624 the foundation stone for the church was laid and by 1647 the Igreja Sao Joao Evangelista was already finished. Until the 19 century the Igreja Sao Joao Evangelista represented the largest building complex in Funchal, time to get in or not ... ?

The church represents a typical Jesuit temple with an ample and high nave. The nave is flanked by identical lateral chapels, above which we found a passage built in the wall with windows and balconies at the choir level. A nice detail is that Dutch tiles from the 17th and 18th century cover the ceiling frescos. Highlight of the interior of Igreja Sao Joao Evangelista is certainly its collection of golden carved altarpieces dating from 1647, 1648, 1654 and 1660. The high altar is considered one of the jewels of Madeiran carving work from that time.

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Address: Praca do Municipio, Funchal.
Directions: Right in the city centre, you won't miss it!
Website: www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

City Hall is situated at the east side of the square. The Carvalhal family built this City Hall and its architectonic features date from the 18th century. The building was acquired by the City of Funchal in 1883. An impressive staircase gives access to the building's main floor, which has eleven windows connected by a veranda in wrought iron. Inside, there is a beautiful courtyard with a marble statue of "Leda and the Swan". At the Southside of the square the Sacred Art Museum is situated. It houses an excellent collection of Flemish paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries, there are also several sculptures, sacred jewellery, priestly garments and Portuguese paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Many of these objects were acquired with the wealth brought by the sugar trade.

After all thes beautiful impressions we had a nice cappuchino in front of some beautiful mansions at the west side of the square. The view we had at the square was magnificent! The Praça do Municipio (Municipal Square) is a study in light and black, the square paved with hundreds of black and white lava half moons surrounded by whitewashed buildings trimmed in dark stone.

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Address: Praca do Municipio, Funchal.
Directions: Right in the city centre, you won't miss it!
Website: www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

Madeira island is one of Europe's oldest travel locations and many thousands of tourists return year after year. We have visited many places around the world and Madeira is one of the few spots we would like te return someday. Why? Well, we discovered that Madeira offers not only a pleasant year round climate and wonderful fauna and flora - Madeira is also virtually crime free and one of the safest holiday destinations in the world! Besides that it offers an amazing cultural heritage of which the Quinta Vigia is a very nice example. Quinta Vigia is a beautiful old and historic mansion which dates back from the early origins of colonisation and was probably used by the first Donee Generals as their official residence.

Initially it was called 'Quinta das Angústias', perhaps due to the fact that the chapel annexed to the main building was known as 'Nossa Senhora das Angústias'. The name "Vigia" (watch) probably comes from a military or fiscal station that served to sound the alarm in case of pirate attacks, or enemy ships, as well as controlling possible cases of smuggling. Its location, rising over the city of Funchal and the sea, certainly had to do with it. We were very interested in visiting it, because of its location, the adjoining park and the fact that the Empress Elizabeth of Austria ''Sissi' used to live here.

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Address: Avenida do Infante, Funchal.
Directions: West from the city centre. Near the Porto.
Website: www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

It was quite a hike to get all the way up there, but once we arrived we were glad to be there. A bit of a disappointment was that our travel book said that the quinta should be open for the public from monday to Friday - from 09:00h to 17:00h, but we were definately not allowed to get in. Pretty weird huh? So, instead, we just walked around the quinta. The building work on this baroque and neaoclassic style quinta lasted throughout the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century. It is surrounded by parkland and overlooks the Port of Funchal and is one of the most famous quintas on the island.

Some celebrities have lived in this house, surrounded by the beautiful garden. Some of the most important people who lived here were Queen Adelaide of England, Austria's Empress Isabel "Sissi", the Archduke Maximiliano and the Prince of Oldenburg. The original quinta disappeared in the 1970s to make way for a hotel, which the Regional Government acquired in 1979. At that time all remaining buildings and the gardens were completely remodelled. Nowadays it's the official residence of the President of the Regional Government of Madeira.

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Address: Avenida do Infante, Funchal.
Directions: West from the city centre. Near the Porto.
Website: www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

After the diappointment of not been allowed to enter the quinta itself we headed for the gardens. Thankfully it was open to the public! It offers wonderful panoramic views over the harbour and harmoniously combines massive trees, palm trees, many specimens of indigenous flora as well as introduced plants and exotic birds in its garden - a delight for all botanic garden lovers. And even when you're not a botanic lover, the surrounding Santa Catarina Park is very beautiful as it has some nice pools, lanes to stroll through, a few nice statues, monuments and a great view at the city.

At the beginning of the park you'll find the Santa Catarina Chapel, built by the order of D. Constanca de Almeida, Joao Goncalves Zarco's wife, in 1425. The original Chapel was rebuilt in the late 15th century and the present building was rebuilt in the 17th century. It was the first of its kind to be built in Madeira and it is therefore a memorial to the era of discovering and settlement of this island. After our stroll through the Santa Catarina Park we headed back to the city centre. This way down the hill was a nice and relaxing one, towards luch time!

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Address: Avenida do Infante
Directions: West from the city centre. Near the Porto.
Website: www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

Funchal was founded by Joao Goncalves Zarco in 1495. It grew nad did this so well that in 1508 the village was given the category of city. At that time, piratery was at its highest in the dangerous oceans and seas of the world, and Funchal was not overlooked. In the autumn of 1566, Funchal was invaded by a French buccaneer fleet and the looting lasted over a fortnight, with an enormous treasure as the result. The inhabitants of Funchal learned quickly from their mistake. They built their city in a circular shape, something like a Roman amphitheatre so that all buildings were facing the sea. There are towers and balconies on many houses, all giving us the impression that Funchal is always on the 'louk-out'.

So it's fair to say that the Forte de Sao Tiago was built to repel attacks from the pirates. Its construction was completed in 1620. Enlarged in 1767 and modified in the beginning of the 19th century, it has always been a military space. Since 1992 the fortress has been under juristriction of the Regional Government of Madeira. It now serves as an art museum, bringing together various works of outstanding Portuguese artists of recents years. The collection is growing as new pieces are added. We were intriged by its yellow colour and decided to visit it.

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Address: Rua de Fort of Sao Tiago, Funchal.
Directions: East of the city centre at the beach.
Website: http://www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

When we walked to the Forte Sao Tiago we noticed Funchal is a mixture of the old colonial town, a must see, surrounded by modern and busy tourist areas and ordinary buildings. The Rua Santa Maria led us to the picture perfect 15th century Capela do Carpo Santo and next to the ocean the Forte de Sao Tiago, which is home to the Museu de Arte Contemporanea. The fun thing when we arrived was that from that point we had a nice view at the city of Funchal, nestled into the foothills of the mountains and fronted by the ocean. Great and unexpected!

But something else we also didn't expect was that the fortress itself was closed for the public, because of the fact they were preparing this historical site for a wedding. Asking around and begging for some mercy, they gave us permission to walk around and we were pleased to see some more of this beautiful fortress. We learned that being built in the 17th century it is done in the "Mudéjar style", a mixture of Spanish and Arabic architectural influences. The yellow colour was especially done for the pirates. By this way they would easily been able to notice the fortress and rethink their intentions on attacking the city.

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Address: Rua de Fort of Sao Tiago, Funchal.
Directions: East of the city centre at the beach.
Website: http://www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

We were not allowed to stroll around too long, so we decided to have a quick look at the courtyard and the defensive walls. It's quite amazing that the Forte de Sao Tiago is so close to the sea that you can watch straight down the ocean once you're up there. By that time we were called back and were gently asked to leave the fortress as they needed to do the last preparations before the guests would arrive. And of course we did so, as we were already thankful that we were even allowed to have a look around at all. Whatever asking politely can do for you?

The Forte de Sao Tiago is maybe better known as the Sao Tiago Fortress as it is called this way in the travel books and maps. It houses the Museum of Contemporary Art, a collection of work acquired and donated by the artists themselves. At the entrance we saw that currently it had a temporary exhibition involving local artists with art from the 1960s. After this we had a look around the fortress and walked our way towards the area between the river Ribeira de Sao Gomes, the ocean and the Forte de Sao Tiago called "Zona Velha", the Old Area.

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Address: Rua de Fort of Sao Tiago, Funchal.
Directions: East of the city centre at the beach.
Website: http://www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/

Just before we left our appartement in Santo da Serra for a daytrip to Funchal we read in our travel book:"In the 16th century Madeira was an island with a very busy port where the exports of sugarcane sugar and wine were fundamental to its economy. Especially during the Spanish occupation (1580-1640) and with threats of attacks from pirates and enemies of Portugal and Spain , the king started to construct some defensive buildings to protect the city of Funchal ." We both like to visit historical buildings and therefore wanted to see the Palace of São Lourenço, which was built as a fortress and once was the residence of military governors and captains.

The palace is very easy to find. We parked our car just west of the city centre (street name R. dos Aranhas) and hiked our way up to the promenade. By the time we felt the sea wind blow through our hairs we already could see the Palace of São Lourenço which just stands so proud at the city gates.

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Address: Largo da Restauracao, Funchal.
Directions: Facing the main boulevard (Av. das Comunidades Madeirenses), just accross the Marina.
Website: http://www.cm-funchal.pt/cmf/