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Sao Mateus da Calheta
Picturesque fishing village. Forts Grande and Negrito, remains of the former fortifications erected all over the island to defend it from a Spanish invasion (16th c.). Two picturesque impérios or chapels of the Holy Ghost (19th c.). A whale hunting station, described by Prince Albert of Monaco in the 19th c., used to exist at Negrito.
Places to visit: Parish church; Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Luz.
Santa Barbara
Parish church. 15th c. edifice, with later alterations. Gilded, sculptured woodwork. Image of St. Barbara, in stone from ARQA. Close to the church lies an império of the Holy Ghost (19th c.).
Vila Nova
Characteristic village. On nearby Agualva stream, a number of old water-mills set in a verdant landscape. Interesting imperio of the Holy Ghost (l9th c.).
Place to visit: Church of the Divino Espirito Santo.
Fontinhas
Church of Nossa Senhora da Pene. Originated in a 16th c. edifice that was profoundly altered in the 19th c. High altar. Carved woodwork. Decorative tiles. Close to an imperio of the Holy Ghost (19th c.). Chapel of Santo Antonio. Picturesque l9th c. construction.
Lajes
Old village. Site of the air base which played an important part in the anti-submarine campaign of the Allies during the 2nd World War, and which also served as a supporting point for several air operations against the Axis forces. Today it is part of the defensive system of the Atlantic.
Places to visit: Church of Sao Miguel Arcanjo and Casa do Espanhol.
Sao Sebastiao
Site of the first settlement on the island. An old and characteristic town that received its charter in 1503. Picturesque império or chapel of the Holy Ghost, with figures.
Places to visit: Church of Sao Sebastiao and Chapel of Santa Ana.
Ribeirinha
Church of São Pedro. 16th c. building that was expanded in the 18th c. High altar. Gilded, carved woodwork. 16th c. image of Christ.
The village contains four imperios of the Holy Ghost, three of which date from the l9th c.
Galleons, shipwrecks and treasures
Off the coast of Terceira lie the remains of swift caravels and other ships engaged in the African trade, large galleons from Peru and the Orient and war-like frigates with bright bronze cannon. These ships have transformed the coast into a hidden museum, the memory of times gone by, of struggles and suffering, of hope and danger.
The battle of Salga
After bombarding Angra on 5th July 1581, a Spanish fleet of ten ships, commanded by Don Pedro Valdez, reconnoitred the coast of the island in search of the best landing places, At dawn on the 25th July, the first ships loaded with Spanish troops anchored in Salga bay. A watchman, stationed at the cape called Ponta do Coelho, gave the alarm, but when the first Portuguese forces arrived about one thousand Castilians had already landed and had started to sack the surroundings. In this phase of the fighting a leading role was played by young and pretty Brianda Pereira who, together with other women, attacked the enemy when she saw her house destroyed by them.
By nine a. m. the fighting was heavy. The Spaniards swept the coast with their artillery, which made the task of the defenders more difficult. About mid-day, when the outcome of the battle was still indecisive, an Augustinian named Friar Pedro, who was taking an active part in the struggle, thought of the stratagem of driving wild cattle against the Spaniards so as to scatter them. Over a thousand head of cattle were quickly gathered and, by means of shouts and musket shots, driven against the enemy positions. The terrified Spaniards fell back and were pursued to the shore, where almost all of them lost their lives in the fighting or drowned while trying to reach their boats.
The Corte Real family and America
Captain-donee of Angra in 1474 and later of the island of São Jorge, João Vaz Corte-Real took part in voyages of exploration, and is said to have reached Newfoundland before 1472 and afterwards, with his two sons Gaspar and Miguel, the North American continent.
Gaspar Corte-Real was to carry out two voyages of discovery. The first, in 1500, is said to have reached Greenland and the entrance to Hudson Bay and to have sailed along the coast of Canada to the St. Lawrence River. On his second voyage, in 1501, his caravel disappeared.
In 1502, Miguel, anxious to discover his brother's fate, headed a rescue expedition which never returned. According to the inscription on the famous Dighton rock in Rhode Island he became chief of the Indians in the Wampanois and Providence region. These two unfortunate brothers were therefore the first Europeans to tread the soil of the North American continent.
Vasco Anes Corte-Real, the eldest brother, who had inherited the captaincies of Angra and São Jorge, wanted to set out in search of his kinsmen but was prevented from doing so by King Manual I.
Flemish art in the Azores
In the 15th and 16th centuries, relations with Flanders, which also supplied settlers, made it possible for the Azores to receive works of religious art from that region, which was then one of the artistic centres of Europe Dating from that period, the Azores have about one hundred Flemish sculptures (mainly from the towns of Zoutleeuw and Malines, which identified them with initials) and fewer than twenty paintings.
This legacy constitutes a true artistic treasure, since so many works from that period were destroyed in Flanders by the wars of religion. It is possible that only Spain has a larger number of Flemish images in its museums and churches. For over a century Flemish art influenced the output of religious images in the Azores until, with the Spanish occupation (1583 to 1640) and the masters of Angra cathedral, a new aesthetic style was adopted.
