Oliveira (point)
Original title: Oliveira (Ponta da)
Headland on the coast of Caniço that marked one end of the boundary between the captaincies of Funchal and Machico; named after an olive stake planted there as a boundary marker.
On the coast of the parish (freguesia) of Caniço (‘reed’) there is a projection, or point, called Oliveira. When the discoverers João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira marked out the limits of their captaincies, the territory was divided by a roughly straight line running from Ponta da Oliveira to Ponta do Tristão, these points being regarded as the extremities of their donataries. At the south-eastern end an olive stake was planted as a boundary marker; it is said to have been sent from the mainland expressly for that purpose by Prince Henry the Navigator. This is why that projection of land bears the name Ponta da Oliveira.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 03- Ponta da Oliveira · Subject
Santa Cruz. Subject of the entry; one end of the captaincy boundary.
Ponta da Oliveira is a headland on the coast of Caniço, Madeira, named after an olive stake planted there as a boundary marker. It was the southern end of the line dividing the captaincies of Funchal and Machico and the southern limit of the original Funchal municipality. It has a small landing place, with a landing stage built in 1909.
- Caniço
Santa Cruz. Parish on whose coast the point lies.
Caniço is a parish in the municipality of Santa Cruz, lying on the boundary between the captaincies of Funchal and Machico. Its early settlers included Gaspar Rego, Vasco Fernandes Rego and Álvaro de Ornelas, whose family founded morgados there; its alcaide and judge were appointed by the Funchal senate. The parish includes the Garajau statue, the Jesuits' Socorro residence and the Quinta do Barão da Conceição.
- Ponta do Tristão
Porto Moniz. Other end of the captaincy boundary line.
Ponta do Tristão is a headland in north-western Madeira that marked the northern end of the boundary between the captaincies of Funchal and Machico and the western limit of the north coast. It marked the end of the discoverers' first exploration, and its area has only recently been explored botanically, yielding several notable plants. The notes place it variously in Achadas da Cruz and in the parish of Porto Moniz.
People
People mentioned · 03- Henry the Navigator1394–1460
Prince Henry the Navigator, said to have sent the olive stake from the mainland as the boundary marker.
- João Gonçalves Zarcod. 1467
Discoverer of Madeira and captain of Funchal, whose captaincy boundary began at this point.
- Tristão Teixeirad. 1470
Co-discoverer of Madeira and captain of Machico, whose captaincy was divided from Zarco's by the line from this point.