Cemeteries
Original title: Cemiterios
A short history of the cemeteries of Funchal and Madeira, built from 1836 onwards to replace burial inside churches.
The oldest cemetery in Funchal for the burial of Catholics is that of São Roque, built in 1836. Work on the Angústias cemetery also began that year, but was not completed until 1838. The Santa Luzia (‘St Lucy’) cemetery dates from 1840 and the São Gonçalo cemetery from 1841. Before cemeteries were established, Catholics were buried in churches or in their churchyards. There was, however, at the locality of Angústias a small plot called the cemetery of the Holy House (Santa Casa, the Misericórdia), which received the bodies of those who died in the hospital.
The establishment of cemeteries in some rural municipalities was slow: a newspaper of the time reports that in 1862 the parishes of São Jorge and Arco de São Jorge still had no grounds set aside for burial. On 19 August and 26 October 1850 Councillor (conselheiro, honorary title of the royal council) José Silvestre Ribeiro urged the Municipal Councils (Câmaras Municipais) to build cemeteries, since in many parts of the district there existed ‘the superstitious practice of burying the dead inside churches’.
The cemetery of Porto Santo was completed in 1838 and is therefore one of the oldest in the archipelago.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 06-
The São Roque cemetery, Funchal's oldest Catholic cemetery, was built and work began on the Angústias cemetery.
-
The Angústias cemetery in Funchal and the Porto Santo cemetery were completed.
-
The Santa Luzia cemetery was established in Funchal.
-
The São Gonçalo cemetery was established.
-
José Silvestre Ribeiro recommended that the municipal councils build cemeteries.
-
São Jorge and Arco de São Jorge still lacked cemeteries.
Place
Places mentioned · 08- Cemeteries · Subject
Funchal
The cemeteries of Funchal and Madeira, built from 1836 onwards to replace burial inside churches. The Elucidário gives a short history of them.
- Angústias Cemetery
Funchal. Cemetery begun in 1836 and completed in 1838.
Funchal municipal cemetery, which grew from a small Misericórdia burial ground of 1818 and was built in 1836–38. It has a carved basalt portico, a mortuary and a 1917 monument to the victims of the German bombardment. The 2nd Count of Carvalhal and Dean Andrade are among those buried there.
- Arco de São Jorge
Santana. Still had no cemetery in 1862.
North-coast parish of the municipality of Santana, separated from São Jorge in 1676, over which the Pico do Arco de São Jorge (837 m) rises. It still had no cemetery in 1862 and became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927. It is linked to Boaventura by a path across the Entrosa escarpment, and its forests were damaged in the 1919 fire.
- Porto Santo
Its cemetery, finished in 1838, is among the oldest in the archipelago.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
- São Jorge
Santana. Still had no cemetery in 1862.
North-coast parish that was an original parish of Santana municipality and gives its name to the northern archpriest district. It is known for plant-fossil and lignite deposits studied by Heer and Bunbury, and for a 17th-century landslide. The Elucidário also describes its islet, headland, quay and stream.
- São Roque Cemetery
Funchal. Oldest Catholic cemetery in Funchal, built in 1836.
Oldest Catholic cemetery in Funchal, built in 1836.
People
People mentioned · 01- José Silvestre Ribeiro1807–1891
Civil governor of Madeira who in 1850 urged the municipal councils to build cemeteries and end burial in churches.