The archipelago of Madeira is located 520 km (280 nmi) from the African coast and 1,000 km (540 nmi) from the European continent (approximately a one-and-a-half hour flight from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon).[30] It is found in the extreme south of the Tore-Madeira Ridge, a bathymetric structure of great dimensions oriented along a north-northeast to south-southwest axis that extends for […]
On 31 December 1916 during the Great War, the German U-boat, SM U-38, captained by Max Valentiner, entered Funchal harbour on Madeira; it torpedoed and sank three ships: CS Dacia (1,856 tons), SS Kanguroo (2,493 tons) and Surprise (680 tons), bringing the war to Portugal by extension. The commander of the French gunboat Surprise and 34 of her crew (including 7 Portuguese) died in the attack. TheDacia, a British cable-laying vessel, had previously undertaken war work off […]
The first Portuguese settlers began colonizing the islands around 1420 or 1425. The three Captains-majorhad led the first settlement, along with their respective families, a small group of minor nobility, people of modest conditions, and some prisoners, who could be trusted to work the lands. To gain the minimum conditions for the development of agriculture, they had to […]
João Gonçalves Zarco (c. 1390 – 21 November 1471) was a Portuguese explorer who established settlements and recognition of the Madeira Islands, and was appointed first captain of Funchal by Henry the Navigator. Zarco was born in Portugal, and became a knight at the service of Prince Henry the Navigator‘s household. In his service at an early age, Zarco commanded the caravelsguarding the coast of Algarve from the incursions […]
In 1419 two captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven by a storm to the island they called Porto Santo, or Holy Harbour, in gratitude for their rescue from shipwreck. The next year an expedition was sent to populate the island, and, Madeira being described, they made for it, and took possession […]
Pliny mentions certain Purple Islands, the position of which with reference to the Fortunate Islands or Canaries might seem to indicate Madeira islands. Plutarch (Sertorius, 75 AD) referring to the military commander Quintus Sertorius (d. 72 BC), relates that after his return to Cádiz, “he met seamen recently arrived from Atlantic islands, two in number, divided from one another only by a narrow […]
Laurel forest, also called Laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elongated leaves, known as “laurophyll” or “lauroid”. Plants from the laurel family (Lauraceae) may or may not be present, depending on the location. Laurel forests are found in the islands of Macaronesia in the eastern […]
Levada is an irrigation channel or aqueduct specific to the island of Madeira. The name levada derived from the word “levar”, which means “to carry”. Madeira Island has a very rugged topography carved by numerous waterways, some of which torrential character, carrying huge flow for a short period of time and as such, could drag large sediment loads that sometimes originate […]
The Wine Museum is integrated in the Madeira Wine Institute and brings together a diverse estate on the cycles of cultivation, production and export of Madeira Wine, as well as a set of paraphernalia and machines picturing the different phases of culture and production of this wine: includes materials that illustrate the history of Madeira […]
João Esmeraldo, Jeanin Esmerandt or Esmenaut, born in Bethume in the county of Artois, came from Bruges to Lisbon in 1480, as an employee of Despars trading house, based in Bruges. This company was dedicated to business with sugar from Madeira. The farmer and trader Esmenaut or Esmeraldo, built a house that has become very […]
