Capelo and Ivens (the explorers)
Original title: Capelo e Ivens (Os exploradores)
Describes the festive reception given in Funchal in September 1885 to the Portuguese naval officers and African explorers Hermenegildo Capelo and Roberto Ivens. Two streets beside the Jardim Municipal were later named after them.
Reception of the explorers in Funchal
Among the brilliant receptions that Madeira has prepared for some of its most illustrious visitors, one stands out: that given on 12 September 1885 to the African explorers and our compatriots, the naval officers Hermenegildo Capelo and Roberto Ivens.
At a meeting held a few days earlier in the Palácio de São Lourenço (St Lawrence Palace), chaired by the civil governor Vasco Guedes, the final programme of festivities was settled and committees were appointed to carry out every item of it.
At the entrance to the city a temporary wooden quay was built and colourfully decked out. There the explorers landed, awaited by the authorities, public officials, committee members and all the most distinguished people of the city, as well as a large crowd. The city entrance and the former Praça da Constituição (‘Constitution Square’) were magnificently decorated, and at night they were illuminated with great brilliance and profusion.
After the landing, a formal reception was held at the Palácio de São Lourenço, where several speakers greeted the explorers with enthusiastic addresses, and the explorers received the tributes of the large and select gathering present.
In the afternoon a splendid banquet for 60 guests was given in the rooms of the former Funchal Club (Club Funchalense), presided over by the Count of Carvalhal (‘oak grove’). Several speeches were made, which Roberto Ivens movingly acknowledged in his own name and in that of his companion.
The explorers then toured the illuminated streets and squares. Entering the building of the Funchal Commercial Association (Associação Comercial do Funchal), Roberto Ivens drew on a map of Africa a quick sketch of the exploratory journey they had just completed across the dark continent. For many years the sketch was kept in the association’s office, and it is surely still there, religiously preserved.
The spacious and elegant rooms of the Funchal Club opened again on the following night for a splendid ball, a magnificent occasion that greatly impressed the illustrious explorers and touched them deeply.
They sailed on 14 September for Lisbon, where a brilliant and enthusiastic reception awaited them.
The streets flanking the Jardim Municipal (‘municipal garden’) to the south and north were named after Hermenegildo Capelo and Roberto Ivens respectively.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 07
Abroad
- Africa
Continent crossed by the explorers.
Africa is referred to as a destination of Madeiran expeditions, soldiers and exiled convicts, and as an export market for Madeiran butter. The explorers Capelo and Ivens crossed the continent, and North Africa is noted as the origin of the date palm.
- Funchal Club
Funchal. Club rooms where the banquet and ball were held.
The Club Funchalense was a club in Funchal whose rooms hosted the banquet and ball for the explorers Capelo and Ivens. It was also the venue of a ball offered by the Câmara Municipal to Infante D. Luís.
- Funchal Commercial Association
Funchal. Building where Ivens sketched the route of the expedition on a map of Africa.
Building where Ivens sketched the route of the expedition on a map of Africa.
- Jardim Municipal do Funchal
Funchal. Garden flanked by the streets named after Capelo and Ivens.
The Municipal Garden of Funchal is a public garden laid out on the site of the former Franciscan convent, destroying the foundations of a planned town hall; it is flanked by streets named after Capelo and Ivens. It is notable for its palms, Pandanus and Dammara. It holds the aviators' monument, whose first stone was laid in 1921, and the João Fernandes Vieira monument, moved there in 1933.
- Lisbon
Portugal. Destination of the explorers after leaving Madeira.
The Portuguese capital, seat of the Relação court and of the Misericórdia whose privileges and statutes were extended to Funchal. Henrique Franco de Sousa studied at its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and Luiz José Baiardo moved there in 1821.
- Praça da Constituição
Funchal. Square decorated and illuminated for the explorers' arrival.
The Praça da Constituição was a former square in Funchal, earlier called Passeio Público, named after the liberal constitution proclaimed there on 28 January 1821. It was called Praça Real under D. Miguel, became Praça da República in 1911, and disappeared in 1914 when the Avenida Oeste was built. It adjoined the Municipal Garden and was a terminus of the tramway.
- São Lourenço Palace
Funchal. Site of the organising meeting and of the solemn reception for the explorers.
The Palácio de São Lourenço, the governors' palace-fortress in Funchal, was the scene of beija-mão ceremonies, receptions, balls and dinners, and of the 1861 exhibition. The Elucidário records a great fire there in 1699, a natural history museum in 1850, and an attempt by soldiers to enter it in 1829. The Teatro Grande stood opposite it.
People
People mentioned · 04-
Portuguese naval officer and African explorer, fêted in Funchal in September 1885 with Roberto Ivens.
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Portuguese naval officer and African explorer who thanked Funchal's hosts and sketched his journey across Africa on a map at the Associação Comercial in 1885.
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Madeiran nobleman who presided over the 60-cover banquet for the explorers at the Club Funchalense in 1885.
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Civil governor of Funchal who presided over the meeting organising the 1885 reception of Capelo and Ivens.