Memorable landmarks

As this subject is closely related to the articles Monuments, National Monuments, Moradias de Zargo and Artistic Heritage, we set down here a few brief notes on the places and buildings that should be regarded as Padrões Memoráveis (‘memorable monuments’) and that are of particular interest to the history of our archipelago.

Madeira

It has been said, and we have repeated it several times, that Madeira is the great undying commemorative pillar (padrão) that truly marks the auspicious beginning of that prodigious odyssey unfolding across unknown oceans and continents.

Before the Portuguese sought out these unknown and mysterious islands, they had carried out daring but almost entirely fruitless ventures. Only after this marvellous encounter did they discover the Azores, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Cape of Good Hope, India, Brazil and the countless islands scattered across the vastness of the Atlantic and the Pacific.

The ‘discovery’ or ‘reconnaissance’ of this archipelago represents not only a notable territorial expansion of our domains as a nation, but also marks our first great achievement as navigators and future masters of the seas. For a nation whose principal role in the history of humanity was that of discoveries and maritime enterprises, the places where those glorious ventures began to unfold, and above all the eminently civilising work they represented, cannot fail to deserve the most devoted interest and the most heartfelt veneration.

Machico

This locality holds a distinguished place in the history of the Madeiran archipelago. Its name is inseparably linked with the auspicious discovery, the first landing and the beginning of the settlement of these remote and unknown regions. It may be said, without undue hyperbole, that the great colonial expansion and the remarkable work of Portuguese colonisation had their first starting point there. It is therefore greatly to be regretted that no commemorative pillar has yet been raised at the spot called the Desembarcadouro (landing place) to remind present and future generations of the glorious events that began to unfold at that memorable site more than five centuries ago.

Gaspar Frutuoso tells us, in his picturesque language, that the discoverers, or rather the first settlers, went ‘to land on the cliff, where there are stones and shallows on which one can easily land, however rough the sea may be, because it is sheltered by the cliff: and this lugar (settlement ranking between a town and a parish) is called today (1590) the Desembarcadouro, where Robert Machin’s people also landed. . . ’.

Although no credence can be given to the well-known and celebrated legend, many weighty reasons suggest that the landing of the earliest colonisers of this island took place there, and that the spot was given the name ‘Desembarcadouro’, which tradition has preserved and the chroniclers have recorded. As stated above, it recalls the discovery, the first landing and the beginning of settlement, each of them a further reason that urges and imposes the duty of a fitting commemoration. This has long been suggested and advocated, but a favourable opportunity for carrying out this pressing task has so far been lacking.

A simple column, crowned by some emblem or patriotic trophy and set on a modest plinth rising from the living rock, would in itself be a small but expressive monument, perpetuating the memory of those events and perhaps recalling them to the many, many people who are surely unaware of them.

In Funchal there are three buildings that every Madeiran should regard as true ‘memorable landmarks’ and look upon with the deepest respect and the purest devotion: the chapel of St Catherine (Santa Catarina), the church of the Convent of St Clare (Santa Clara) and the Quinta das Cruzes (‘estate of the crosses’).

Chapel of St Catherine

This small and modest chapel, built by Dona Constança de Almeida, wife of João Gonçalves Zarco, was the first place of worship raised on this island. Beside it the first captain-donatary (capitão-donatário) had his original residence, and from there he directed the hard and unremitting work of the fledgling colonisation of Madeira. Settlement developed rapidly, and the first towns (vilas) were soon created at the seats of the three captaincies, the town of Funchal becoming the most important of them.

Convent of St Clare

As the final resting place for himself and for his successors in the government of the donatary captaincy (donataria), João Gonçalves Zarco had the chapel of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Nossa Senhora da Conceição) built. It became known as Conceição de Cima and, when the adjoining convent was founded, took the dedication to St Clare, which it still keeps today. Enlarged and later entirely rebuilt in the second half of the 17th century, nothing of the original building is likely to remain there, but within its walls it holds the venerable ashes of its founder, the first captain-donatary of Funchal. It must be regarded as our most precious and revered ‘memorable landmark’, inspiring in all the most respectful and heartfelt veneration.

Quinta das Cruzes

In the immediate vicinity of this church Gonçalves Zarco had his last residence, and there he ended his long and toilsome life. It is the manor house of the Quinta das Cruzes, which has also become a ‘landmark’ worthy of equal and well-deserved veneration.

Milagres chapel – Outside the city there still stands an old and likewise venerable chapel which, because of the spot where it was built and the various events closely linked with it, is equally a ‘memorable landmark’ deserving the highest and most considered esteem: the chapel of the Lord of Miracles (Senhor dos Milagres) in the town of Machico, which we have already discussed on several occasions.