Guiomar (Belvedere of Dona)
Original title: Guiomar (Mirante de D.)
A belvedere at the Quinta das Angústias in Funchal, used as a landmark for anchoring, named after D. Guiomar Madalena Acciaioly, whose goods were seized for debts to the Treasury around 1800.
The old instructions on how to anchor in the Port of Funchal (Porto do Funchal) mark the belvedere (mirante) of Dona Guiomar, because it was a point easy to pick out and recognise from on board ship. It stands on the quinta (country estate) of Angústias (‘sorrows’), which belonged to Count Alexandre Carlos de Lambert (see that entry) and was sold to Dr Júlio Paulo de Freitas by deed of 19 August 1903.
Dona Guiomar, or more precisely Dona Guiomar Madalena Acciaioly, the lady who gave her name to the belvedere of the former Quinta das Angústias, lived at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, and had her goods seized for debts to the National Treasury (Fazenda Nacional). She owned the house on the Largo da Sé, now demolished, which housed the gaol (see that entry), and she possessed other buildings in the city. The Navy and Overseas Archive (Arquivo da Marinha e Ultramar) refers to an official letter from the governor Dom José Manuel da Câmara to Dom Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho concerning the dispatch of bills of exchange from the Treasury Board (Junta da Fazenda) to the Royal Exchequer, and of jewels, silverware and tapestries belonging to the estate of Dona Guiomar Madalena.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 04- Guiomar · Subject
Funchal
The Mirante de D. Guiomar is a belvedere at the Quinta das Angústias in Funchal, used as a landmark for anchoring. It is named after D. Guiomar Madalena Acciaioly, whose goods were seized for debts to the Treasury around 1800.
- Harbour of Funchal
Funchal. Harbour for which the belvedere served as a landmark.
Funchal Bay, the largest harbour of the Madeira archipelago and the leading port of the Adjacent Islands. The islet lies at its western end, and it lies 4 miles from the port of Câmara de Lobos. The Elucidário gives its shipping statistics from 1901 to 1943 and records episodes such as corsair and warship visits.
- Largo da Sé
Funchal. Square where D. Guiomar's demolished house, later the prison, stood.
A square in Funchal where D. Guiomar's house stood, used by the council from 1802 and later as the jail. The Misericórdia's hospital was built there from 1686, a liberal monument's foundation stone was laid there in 1822, and constitutional documents were burned there.
- Quinta das Angústias
Funchal. Estate where the belvedere stands.
Quinta das Angústias is an estate in Funchal where the Empress D. Amélia and the Duke of Leuchtenberg resided during their stays. The Conde de Lambert later bought it as his residence, and the Mirante de D. Guiomar belvedere stands on it.
People
People mentioned · 05- Alexandre Carlos de Lambert1816–1866
Former owner of the Quinta das Angústias, where the belvedere stands.
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Lady of the late 18th and early 19th centuries who gave her name to the belvedere; her property was seized for debts to the Treasury.
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Governor of Madeira who reported on sending D. Guiomar's inherited jewels, silver and tapestries to the Royal Treasury.
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Bought the Quinta das Angústias by deed of 19 August 1903.
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Minister to whom the governor addressed the letter about D. Guiomar's estate.