Entrada da Cidade
Describes the Entrada da Cidade, the seafront street in Funchal that served as the main entrance to the city for arrivals by sea, built around 1839 on the site of the former Porto da Saúde and renamed Avenida João Gonçalves Zarco in 1910.
Origins and history of the city entrance
As its very name indicates, this is truly the entrance to the capital of Madeira for those who come from outside the island and wish to enter the city. It was built about 80 years ago. The old entrance to the city was the Varadouros gate (see that entry), which was demolished in 1911. It was through this gate that the prelates and the former governors and captains-general made their official entry, always an occasion of great and solemn ceremony.
The present city entrance was formerly called Porto da Saúde, and since 27 October 1910 it has been named Avenida João Gonçalves Zarco. A small, narrow street once stood there, closed at its southern end by a redan and one of the city gates. Beside the gate, or very close to it, stood the so-called nursing home (Casa da Saúde) (see that entry), which was rebuilt or considerably enlarged in the last quarter of the 18th century. This is the building that for many years housed the Commercial Association, the Health Station and the Harbour Master's Office (Capitania do Porto). It belonged to the Funchal Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal), which sold it at public auction in 1914.
On 12 January 1838 the central government authorised the Council of this city to demolish the gate and widen the alley there. The gate was pulled down the following year and the street was then built, using for the purpose some land belonging to the Fort of São Lourenço (St Lawrence) and some hovels to the east of the fort. For the time in which it was built, it was a broad street, to which its avenues of plane trees, the nearness and view of the sea and its connection with the public promenade gave a particular beauty.
In 1843 work began on a quay as an extension of the Entrada da Cidade (‘entrance to the city’), but it was never completed. The present quay was built between 1889 and 1892. See Cais.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 07-
A government order authorised the Funchal council to demolish the city gate at Saúde and widen the street.
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The Funchal council put the Entrada da Cidade works out to tender on 8 February 1839 and awarded the contract on 22 February; the Porto da Saúde gate was demolished to build the street.
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Funchal council resolved to build a stone quay at the Entrada da Cidade and the District Council authorised the expenditure; construction began but was never finished.
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The present quay at the entrance of Funchal was built, the works having been awarded on 18 January 1889 to French contractors for 87 contos.
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The republican municipal commission of Funchal renamed streets and places, creating Avenida João Gonçalves Zarco, restoring the name Jardim Municipal and annulling the name of the Leite Monteiro park.
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The Varadouros chapel and gate in Funchal, together with the adjoining stretch of city wall, were demolished.
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Funchal council sold the Casa da Saúde at public auction to Luiz da Rocha Machado & Cª and W. Winton for 22,800$000 réis.
Place
Places mentioned · 06- Entrada da Cidade · Subject
Funchal
The Entrada da Cidade was the seafront street in Funchal that served as the main entrance to the city for arrivals by sea. It was built around 1839 on the site of the former Porto da Saúde and renamed Avenida João Gonçalves Zarco in 1910. Its quay saw the 1894 cholera landing riot, and the first stone of the Zarco statue was blessed in front of it.
- Avenida João Gonçalves Zarco
Funchal. The street that is the subject of the entry, formerly Porto da Saúde.
The street that is the subject of the entry, formerly Porto da Saúde.
- Fortress of São Lourenço
Funchal. Some of its land was used to build the street.
The São Lourenço fortress in Funchal was begun as a simple bastion under the fourth and fifth captains-donatary and completed by the reign of D. Sebastião; its main entrance faces the Largo da Restauração. It later served as a palace and housed the Funchal meteorological station, and the republican flag was raised there on 6 and 7 October 1910. The Elucidário also records its heraldic emblems, a 1635 inscription, an old chapel of São Lourenço and the loss of its statue of the saint in 1911.
- Funchal
The city whose entrance the street forms.
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.
- Nursing home
Funchal. Building near the gate that housed the Commercial Association, health station and harbour office.
The Casa da Saúde is a building at the Entrada da Cidade in Funchal, beside which stood the Saúde gate. It housed the Commercial Association, the health station and the harbour office. The municipal council met there from 1784 and again at several later dates.
- Portão dos Varadouros
Funchal. The old city gate used for official entries, demolished in 1911.
Main gate of Funchal's city walls, dating from 1689 and topped by the chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Varadouros and a Latin inscription. It served as the city's main entrance and was used for official entries until 1839. It was demolished in 1911, and its shield, crown and inscription went to the Museu Arqueológico.
People
People mentioned · 01- João Gonçalves Zarcod. 1467
Discoverer of Madeira and first captain of Funchal, after whom the street was renamed in 1910.