Madeira archipelago 1Importance of the archipelago
Madeira archipelago
Original title: Arquipélago da Madeira
Survey of the Madeira archipelago: its historical and scientific importance, geographical position, extreme points, coordinates, area and population, and its status as the administrative district of Funchal.
1Importance of the archipelago
The importance of this archipelago is set out concisely but strikingly in the following words from the authoritative pen of Dr Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo, the learned annotator of the ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra): ‘This archipelago has been the object of study by learned naturalists, both foreign and Portuguese. It is celebrated, especially the island of Madeira, for the fertility of its soil, its excellent wines, the breathtaking beauty of its landscape and the healthiness of its climate. It is historically notable as the first of the Portuguese discoveries in the 15th century and, afterwards, until the close of the 16th century, as the secular and ecclesiastical metropolis of our overseas dominions and the emporium of our colonial navigation and commerce. For this reason the Madeiran archives, especially those of the Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal) of Funchal, of Machico, of the former and now extinct Treasury Board (Junta da Fazenda) and of the civil government building (Governo Civil) of Funchal, hold precious documents and records, perhaps not to be found elsewhere, for the history of the institutions and government of our possessions beyond the sea’.
2Position, extent and population
The archipelago lies between Western Europe, which faces it to the north-east, the Moroccan coast of West Africa, which runs from east to south-east of it, the Azores archipelago to the north-west, and that of the Canary Islands to the south. The nearest point of the Moroccan west coast to the Madeiran archipelago is Cape Cantin, which lies at roughly the same latitude as Madeira and is equidistant, about 60 miles, from the cities of Mazagan to the north and Mogadouro to the south. The archipelago is approximately 500 miles from mainland Portugal and 350 from Cape Cantin, on the west coast of Africa. The relative positions of the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) and the Desertas (‘deserted islands’) group form a scalene triangle. Its shortest side is the channel between Ilhéu de Fora (‘outer islet’), at the eastern tip of Madeira (Ponta de São Lourenço), and the Prego do Mar (‘sea nail’) or Ilhéu do Navio (‘ship islet’), near Ilhéu Chão (‘flat islet’) in the Desertas. The next longest side is formed by the channel (Travessa) running from the said Ilhéu de Fora (Ponta de São Lourenço) to Ilhéu de Baixo (‘lower islet’) or da Cal (Porto Santo). The longest side is the channel stretching from the aforementioned Ilhéu de Baixo or da Cal (Porto Santo) to the Prego do Mar or Ilhéu Chão (Desertas). The channels measure 11, 27 and 32 miles respectively, which are the distances separating Madeira, Porto Santo and the Desertas group from one another.
The extreme points of this archipelago are generally given as follows: to the north, the Rocha do Nordeste or Ilhéu de Fora (Porto Santo); to the south, Ponta da Agulha (‘needle point’) or Ponta do Sul, at the southern tip of Bugio (Desertas); to the east, Ilhéu de Cima or dos Dragoeiros (Porto Santo); and to the west, Ponta do Pargo (Madeira).
The Madeira archipelago is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and, according to Captain Vidal, lies between the parallels 32° 22′ 20″ and 33° 7′ 50″ north latitude and between the meridians 16° 16′ 30″ and 17° 16′ 38″ longitude west of Greenwich.
According to the most recent calculations, the area of the whole archipelago is 560 square kilometres, though some have raised that figure to more than a thousand kilometres.
Its population, spread over fifty parishes, is 211,000 inhabitants according to the 1930 census. The Madeira archipelago and the small group of the Savage Islands (Selvagens) form the administrative district of Funchal, whose capital is the city of the same name. See the various articles under the headings Madeira, Porto Santo, Desertas, the Savage Islands and Funchal.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 23
1 Abroad
- Azores
Portugal. Archipelago lying north-west of Madeira.
The Azores, an Atlantic archipelago that shares plant species with Madeira. The Elucidário records settlement there by Madeiran families such as the Bettencourts, the 1801 ban on Azorean wines in Madeira, and imports of Azorean tobacco. It also notes that Azorean farmers were brought to Madeira to teach maize-growing methods.
- Bugio
Santa Cruz · Desertas. Southernmost of the Desertas.
Bugio is the southernmost of the three Desertas islands: high (411 m), waterless and uninhabited, with good pasture and the rare plant Chrysanthemum haematomma. The Elucidário notes the Porto da Alagoa, the Ponta da Agulha, sub-fossil snail deposits on its summit and its private ownership in the nineteenth century.
- Canary Islands
Spain. Archipelago lying south of Madeira.
The Canary Islands are the archipelago neighbouring Madeira, with disputed accounts of their discovery. Tradition holds that their Béthencourt king sold them to Prince Henry in exchange for lands in Madeira. The Elucidário notes many contacts between the two archipelagos, including scientific visits, the Orfeão Madeirense's tour in May 1922 and the massacre of forty Jesuits in their waters.
- Cape Cantin
Morocco. Nearest point of the Moroccan coast, about 350 miles away.
Cabo Cantim is the Moroccan cape that is the nearest point of the African coast to Madeira, lying at roughly the same latitude. The Elucidário gives its distance as about 350 miles from Madeira and Funchal.
- Desertas
Santa Cruz. Island group forming a vertex of the triangle.
An island group near Madeira that was already separated from it at the last eruptions and shares endemic species with it. It was the main orchil-harvesting area, and Wollaston found 89 beetle species there. The islands were investigated by scientific expeditions, including the Endurance scientists in 1914.
- Funchal
Capital of the administrative district; its archives are praised.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Ilhéu Chão
Santa Cruz · Desertas. Northernmost of the Desertas.
The Ilhéu Chão is the smallest, flattest and northernmost of the three uninhabited Desertas islands, 93 m high and 19 miles from Funchal to its landing at the porto de Santa Maria. It is the only known home of the endemic grass Lolium lowei, and it once belonged to the captains of Funchal.
- Ilhéu de Baixo
Porto Santo. Islet off Porto Santo used as endpoint of channel measurements.
The Ilhéu de Baixo, also called Ilhéu da Cal, is an islet off the southern tip of Porto Santo, separated from Calheta by a narrow channel and marking the western limit of the bay of Porto Santo. For centuries it supplied all the limestone burnt for lime in Madeiran building; the Elucidário also notes its Miocene fossil-bearing limestone and fossil snails, caves, rabbits, a wine boat lost there in 1790, and its use as the Porto Santo end of the Travessa for distance measurements.
- Ilhéu de Cima
Porto Santo. Eastern extreme of the archipelago.
The Ilhéu de Cima, also called Ilhéu dos Dragoeiros or do Farol, is an islet east-south-east of Porto Santo marking the eastern extreme of the archipelago and the eastern limit of Porto Santo bay. A lighthouse was installed there in 1900 at 118 m above sea level, with a quay for its staff. A living Helix Lowei was found there, deep-water shells occur nearby, and it was recommended in 1903 for tuna traps.
- Ilhéu de Fora
Machico. Islet at Madeira's eastern extremity, starting point of the channels measured.
The Ilhéu de Fora, also called Ilhéu do Farol, is the outermost islet off the Ponta de São Lourenço and the easternmost point of Madeira, 107 m high. It has carried a lighthouse since September 1870 and has a telegraph station linked to Funchal and a quay serving the lighthouse staff. It marks the Madeira end of the Travessa do Porto Santo and is the starting point of the channels measured in the archipelago.
- Ilhéu de Fora
Porto Santo. Northern extreme of the archipelago.
Islet off Porto Santo, also called Rocha do Nordeste. It forms the northern extreme of the Madeira archipelago.
- Machico
Its archives are said to hold precious historical documents.
The parish of Machico was the landing place of the discoverers Zargo and Tristão Vaz and the seat of the captaincy of Machico; the parish was founded c. 1450. The Elucidário covers its clergy and stipends, chapels, historical events, mineral springs, localities, population and notable natives.
People
People mentioned · 02- Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo1825–1898
Scholarly annotator of the Saudades da Terra, quoted here on the importance of the archipelago.
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Captain whose survey is cited for the latitude and longitude limits of the archipelago.