Ponta do Pargo (parish)

This is the parish (freguesia) at the western extremity of the island’s south coast. It stands high on cliffs overlooking the sea and partly forms a picturesque plain, without any great unevenness of terrain except in the mountainous region that bounds it, chiefly to the north.

Gaspar Frutuoso states the origin of its name very clearly: ‘From Calheta (‘small cove’) the captain went on down to the last point above the sea, beyond which it seems there is no more land; and while he was there, the men from Tristão’s boat and from Álvaro Afonso’s boat brought him a fish that looked like a pargo [sea bream], of wondrous size, and the largest they had seen up to that time; on account of which fish that Point was given the name of Pargo. From this Ponta do Pargo the land turns northwards to another point, which some say lies two, others three, léguas from this one…’

Beyond Ponta do Pargo, continuing northwards, lies Ponta do Tristão (‘Tristão’s point’), which, as is well known, formed one of the boundaries dividing the two captaincies of Funchal and Machico, the other boundary being Ponta da Oliveira (‘olive-tree point’).

The lands that now make up the parish of Ponta do Pargo originally belonged to the parish of Fajã da Ovelha (‘the ewe’s flat’), and were separated from it when Ponta do Pargo was constituted as an independent parish. The exact year of its creation is not known, but it must have been before 1560, since the royal decree (alvará régio) of 4 March of that year added one moio (dry measure of grain, 60 alqueires) of wheat and a quarter (quarto) of wine to the stipend (côngrua) of the parish priest, which was then 11,000 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis) a year. The royal decree of 1 March 1577 set the parish priest’s annual salary at 20,000 réis, and that of 9 June 1581 raised it to 25,000 réis, likewise a year.

It was the chapel of St Peter (São Pedro), about whose founder and year of construction we have no information, that served as the seat of the new parish. It underwent enlargements and rebuildings in years we cannot specify. Its reconstruction was ordered by a warrant of the Treasury Council (Conselho da Fazenda) of 20 July 1620, the works being estimated at 2,231,606 réis; it is not known whether the rebuilding was carried out immediately, which did not always happen. In 1851 major repairs were made to this church, at a cost of about 1,700,000 réis. We are informed that the parish church, through its successive constructions and reconstructions, has occupied three different places, though always within the same locality of Salão (‘hall’). It stood first at the spot called Pé do Pico (‘foot of the peak’), then at Achada da Igreja (‘church plateau’), and finally where it stands today.

Pedro de Couto Cardoso, André Nogueira and Duarte Mascarenhas Jaques were the first priests to exercise parish duties in this parish. A curacy (curato) was created here at the end of the 18th century.

This parish has the chapels of Our Lady of Protection (Nossa Senhora do Amparo) and Our Lady of the Good Death (Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte), which we have mentioned elsewhere.

It has two official primary schools: one for boys, established in 1850, and one for girls, established in 1910. It is only right to recall here the services rendered to this parish, and to other neighbouring parishes too, by the private teacher Dona Maria Amélia de Sousa. Over a period of roughly seventy years she gave primary instruction to many people of both sexes, with great skill and the utmost dedication, and her name deserves to live on in the memory of the children of this parish.

Three entailed houses had their seat in this parish; their last representatives were João Alves Espínola e Freitas, Francisco Freire de França e Almeida and Manuel de Ponte de Gouveia.

Cattle fattening is an important industry, as is the production of milk for butter-making. The crops are the same as in the other parishes, except for sugar cane. Special mention is due to the Sercial (white grape variety) wine produced in this area, which has always been regarded as of superior quality.

Farming here is served by the levadas (irrigation channels) of Moinhos, Cabo, Lombada da Velha, Ribeira da Vaca, Serrado, Serra, Ribeiro Velho, Lombadinha, Amparo and Lombo, as well as the Levada do Rabaçal, which also waters part of this parish. The coasts of Ponta do Pargo and Achadas da Cruz (‘plateaus of the cross’) were extremely dangerous waters for shipping. A lighthouse was therefore needed in the first of these parishes, since it forms the most prominent point of that coastline and lies at a height from which the lantern’s light could easily be cast several miles out to sea. Some years ago the building to house the lighthouse was constructed on the initiative of the District General Council (Junta Geral do Distrito), which paid all the construction costs, and the lighthouse came into operation on 5 June 1922. The parish also has a post and telegraph office and a semaphore station.

This parish belonged to the municipality (concelho) of Porto Moniz (‘Moniz’s harbour’) from the time that municipality was set up, in 1835, until 1849, when it was abolished; the parish then became part of the municipality of Calheta. When the municipality of Porto Moniz was restored in 1855, the parish of Ponta do Pargo was again incorporated into it. The law of 26 June 1871 detached it from the municipality of Porto Moniz and returned it to the municipality of Calheta, to which it belongs today. Principal localities: Cabo, Lombada Velha, Ribeira das Vacas, Serrado, Salão, Corujeira de Dentro, Corujeira de Fora, Lombadinha, Amparo and Lombo. According to the 1911 census, the population of the parish is 2,546 inhabitants.