João Diniz (springs) 1Origins and early references
João Diniz (springs)
Original title: Fontes de João Diniz
History of the João Diniz springs beside the São Lourenço fortress in Funchal, a long-used public water source for townspeople and ships, which disappeared in November 1939 during repairs to the palace.
1Origins and early references
The oldest reference we have found to the Fontes de João Diniz (‘João Diniz’s springs’) is in a document recorded in the 3rd volume of the archive of the Funchal Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal do Funchal) and published in ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra), under the title Apontamentos & Regimento que se ha de ter nas obras de forteficaçâo que ellRey nosso senhor mâdou fazer na cidade do Funchal. It reads: ‘And that from the springs of the fortress such part of their water as seems fit be collected in a fountain to be made in the open square outside the fortress, as His Highness had ordered through Pero da Sylva; and from the rest of the said water two spouts, or as many as seem fit, shall be made for the ships to take on water, which spouts shall be placed along the shingle shore.’ The document refers to the sack by the French corsairs, which took place in 1566, and seems to us to date from shortly after that time.
The name of João Diniz that these springs preserve must come from their original owner or from some individual who had worked them. Gaspar Frutuoso was already calling them by this name in 1590.
Dr F. A. Barral extols the good qualities of the water from these springs and devotes several pages to them in his book Noticia sobre o Clima do Funchal (pp. 139–141).
2Works, suspicion and disappearance
At its session of 7 April 1784 the Municipal Council resolved ‘to build a defence or a wall capable of preventing the sea, in wintry weather, from continuing to choke the city’s springs with debris’. The work was estimated at 1 082$500 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis). In 1841 the present public fountain was built, and at that time the embrasures of the battery that stood on the seaward side of the Fort of São Lourenço (St Lawrence) disappeared.
In March 1896 the waters of the João Diniz springs were declared suspect by the municipal administrator (administrador do concelho, the government's representative), Guilherme Teles de Meneses. This did not stop the public from continuing to draw water from them with as much confidence as before. Meanwhile, some works were carried out at that time on the pipes of the São Lourenço palace to prevent possible seepage that might impair the purity of the water.
With the major repair works carried out on the São Lourenço Palace (‘St Lawrence’), the well-known Fontes de João Diniz disappeared in November 1939.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 06-
French Huguenot corsairs under Montluc, guided by Gaspar Caldeira, landed at Praia Formosa and sacked Funchal, storming the fortress of São Lourenço, profaning the cathedral and the Santa Clara convent, whose nuns fled to the Curral; Gaspar de Braga died resisting them. The attack, during the captaincy of Francisco Gonçalves da Câmara, prompted new coastal fortifications.
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Gaspar Frutuoso already called the springs by the name of João Diniz.
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Funchal council resolved to build a sea wall to stop the sea silting up the João Diniz springs.
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The present fountain at the Fontes de João Diniz was built.
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Guilherme Teles de Meneses, administrator of Funchal, declared the water of the João Dinis springs suspect and forbade the public from drawing it.
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The João Diniz springs disappeared during repair works on the São Lourenço palace.
Place
Places mentioned · 03- Fontes de João Diniz · Subject
Funchal
Springs beside the São Lourenço fortress in Funchal, long used as a public water source by townspeople and ships. They disappeared in November 1939 during repairs to the palace.
- Fortress of São Lourenço
Funchal. Fortress (later palace) beside which the springs rose; its seaward battery was removed in 1841.
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
City where the springs were located.
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.
People
People mentioned · 05-
Physician who praised the springs' water in his Noticia sobre o Clima do Funchal.
- Gaspar Frutuoso1522–1591
Chronicler, author of Saudades da Terra, who already used the name João Diniz for the springs in 1590.
- Guilherme Teles de Menesesb. 1855
Administrator of the Funchal municipality who declared the springs' water suspect in March 1896.
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Probably the original owner or exploiter of the springs that bear his name.
- Pedro da Silvad. 1639
Person through whom the king had ordered a fountain in the fortress yard, per the 16th-century regulation quoted.