Ferreiros (street)
Original title: Ferreiros (Rua)
Rua dos Ferreiros is one of Funchal's busiest streets, running from Rua 5 de Outubro to the Torreão bridge; the entry explains its former names (Peru, Estudo, Pinheiro) and their origins. It was renamed Rua do Comércio in 1915.
Abroad
Course and historical names of the street
This is one of the busiest streets in Funchal, running from Rua 5 de Outubro to the Ponte do Torreão (‘turret’). In former times the name Ferreiros (‘blacksmiths’) applied only to the part of the street running from its beginning to the so-called Largo do Chafariz, or Largo de São Sebastião. In relatively recent times, the section between the Largo do Chafariz and the Largo do Colégio (Colégio, ‘College’) was still called Rua do Peru; the section between the College and Rua dos Netos was called Rua do Estudo; and the section from Rua dos Netos to the Torreão was called Rua do Pinheiro (‘pine tree’). The name Ferreiros must certainly have come from the presence there of a number of blacksmiths’ workshops. ‘Christovão Martim de Agrinhão,’ says an old nobiliary, ‘was a fidalgo of the Household of Jaime, Duke of Braganza, and came to this island from Peru, in the Spanish Indies, and was therefore called o Peru, a name he gave to the street where he lived.’ For many years the Jesuits held their classes in Rua dos Ferreiros, and after their expulsion the so-called Aulas do Pátio continued there; the lyceum (state secondary school) was also installed there in 1837. This amply explains the name Estudo (‘Study’) given to part of the street. Frutuoso, speaking of Rua Direita (‘straight street’), says that ‘it is the largest in the city, and leads to the Pinheiro, which is a tree standing at its end, the largest and most beautiful in the city’. It should be noted that, although the Pinheiro stood on the left bank of the stream, the place known by that name extended to the right bank. It should also be borne in mind that a considerable part of the present Rua dos Ferreiros ran alongside the stream, rather than at a distance from it as it does today.
In more remote times, a part of this street near the former Largo do Chafariz bore the names of Simão Acciaioly and of Pedro or Pero Bettencourt.
On 19 November 1915 Rua dos Ferreiros was renamed Rua do Comércio.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 02Place
Places mentioned · 09- Ferreiros · Subject
Funchal
Rua dos Ferreiros is one of Funchal's busiest streets, running from Rua 5 de Outubro to the Torreão bridge. It was earlier known by the names Peru, Estudo and Pinheiro, and was renamed Rua do Comércio in 1915.
- Funchal
City in which the street lies.
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.
- Largo do Chafariz
Funchal. Square marking the end of the original Ferreiros section.
Largo do Chafariz is a square in Funchal, Madeira, within the Duke's Field. It marks the end of the original section of Rua dos Ferreiros, and boot sellers met there on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Largo do Colégio
Funchal. Square bounding the sections formerly called Peru and Estudo.
Largo do Colégio is the former name of the square in Funchal now called Praça do Município. The Rua do Castanheiro connects to it, the Rua da Igrejinha and Rua da Carreira each end there, and it bounds the sections of Rua dos Ferreiros formerly called Peru and Estudo.
- Peru
Country from which Cristóvão Martim de Agrinhão came, source of the name Rua do Peru.
Peru is a South American country cited as the native land of several plants, including Passiflora ligularis, the trombeteira (Datura suaveolens), the sunflower and the cherimoya; the Spanish brought the potato to Europe after conquering it. D. Diogo de Teive served and died there, and Rua do Peru in Funchal takes its name from Cristóvão Martim de Agrinhão, who came from there.
- Ponte do Torreão
Funchal. Bridge where the street ends.
The Ponte do Torreão is a bridge in Funchal that replaced an earlier wooden bridge and gives the Torreão entry its name. Rua dos Ferreiros ends at it, and it is repeatedly used as the reference point for the former extent of Rua Direita.
- Rua 5 de Outubro
Funchal. Street where Rua dos Ferreiros begins.
Rua 5 de Outubro is a street in Funchal, formerly the Rua do Príncipe, where Rua dos Ferreiros begins and the Rampa de D. Manuel de Castro ends. Henrique Veitch's house of original architecture stood on it between the Bom Jesus and Nova bridges.
- Rua Direita
Funchal. Street described by Frutuoso as leading to the Pinheiro.
An early Funchal street existing in 1508, on which the church of São Bartolomeu, an old customs house and the seminary's first house stood. D. Jerónimo Barreto lived there and Zenobio Acciaioly had a sugar mill there. It was hit by a shell in the 1916 bombardment.
- Rua dos Netos
Funchal. Street bounding the sections formerly called Estudo and Pinheiro.
Rua dos Netos is a Funchal street running from Rua de São Pedro to the Ponte Nova over the Santa Luzia stream. It is named after the settler João Rodrigues Neto Calassa and the Neto family. The bishop rented a house there in 1915, the Red Cross delegation had its premises and first-aid post there, and the Montepio houses stood in its eastern part.
People
People mentioned · 04-
Nobleman of the Duke of Bragança's household who came to Madeira from Peru, earning the nickname 'o Peru' that was given to the part of the street where he lived.
- Gaspar Frutuoso1522–1591
Chronicler quoted describing the Rua Direita and the great pine tree at its end.
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Person whose name was once given to part of the street near the old Largo do Chafariz.
- Simão Acciaiolyd. 1544
Person whose name was once given to part of the street near the old Largo do Chafariz.