Our Lady of the Slipways (chapel)

Varadouros (‘slipways’) was the name given, on the beach of Funchal, to the principal point for the embarkation and landing of passengers and goods, and to the spot set aside for hauling small boats ashore. This stretch of beach must have corresponded roughly to the space occupied by the present capstans, from the waterline up to the street that today lies above them. Nearby stood the small chapel of Nossa Senhora (Our Lady), which we believe had the Assumption of the Virgin as its patron saint (orago), and which took the name Varadouros from its position. After the chapels of St Catherine, St Sebastian and St Paul, it was among the oldest in Funchal.

The building that many contemporaries still knew, and which was demolished in April 1911, was not the original structure. That earlier chapel stood on the same spot, but directly on the ground rather than on the arch on which it was later built. When it was decided to open the city’s main gate and entrance in its defensive curtain wall (cortina, the defensive wall of the city), the old chapel had to be demolished. Plans were then drawn up for an imposing gateway and chapel, which formed a single body and were built almost simultaneously. The chapel was therefore pulled down around 1682 and rebuilt in 1689, and at about the same time the adjoining arch and gate were built, which became the main entrance to the city. This work is owed to Dom Lourenço de Almada, who was Governor and Captain-General of Madeira from 1688 to 1690.

On this subject Dr Álvaro de Azevedo writes: ‘... having ordered the Varadouros gate to be cut through the old walls and designed with the elegance of the period and of its style, which became the principal entrance to Funchal, the following Latin inscription was placed above that gate in memory and honour of him: PERFECTA HAEC VARII PRAEFECTI MOENIA FRUSTRA PRAETERITO CUPIUNT TEMPORE QUISQUE SUO SED DOMINO LAURENTO EA EST SERVATA VOLUPTAS DALMADA QUI ISTUD FINE CORONAT OPUS ANNO 1689’.

This inscription, which means ‘Each of the previous governors strove in vain to complete these walls; to Senhor Lourenço de Almada was reserved the satisfaction of their completion’, was reproduced, with minor variations, in no. 5 of the newspaper A Justiça in 1858.

This gate ought to have been carefully preserved, and the adjoining chapel with it, had the Funchal Council of the day possessed a true idea of what the conservation of old works of this kind means. What should have been done was to clear away the hovels that surrounded them and to leave the gate and chapel standing on their own in the middle of the square, making the spot more spacious, cheerful and airy. The gate, though not a monumental work, was beyond any shadow of doubt an interesting and characteristic building of its period. It did not lack a certain architectural grandeur, and it had been admired by many Portuguese and foreigners who were genuine connoisseurs of archaeological matters.

Through this arch and gate the governors and prelates made their ceremonial entry into the city. The occasion was always one of extraordinary splendour, attended by the officials, all the troops of the garrison, the most eminent people of the island, the clergy, noblemen, knights and a great crowd of ordinary people.

When the chapel was demolished, its altar was moved to one of the sacristies of the Cathedral (Sé Catedral), where it is still kept. Above the door of this sacristy a notice in English was put up, describing the Varadouros chapel as the first to be built in Funchal. This is an obvious error, and it must be accepted that not even the altar kept there belonged to the original chapel.