Pontinha (locality, road, islets and mole)

The name Pontinha (‘little point’), given to the projection of the coastline that partly bounds our small harbour of refuge, has at times seemed strange. The spot was originally known as Ilhéus (islets), because two isolated rocks washed by the sea once stood there, and the name also covered the immediate surroundings of the locality (sítio). Even today the Rua dos Ilhéus, which lies nearby, recalls the original name.

The tiny islet that lay closer to the shore was joined to the land early in the third quarter of the 18th century by strong walls, which abutted the walls of a fortified redoubt that stood there. The other islet, which can still be clearly made out at this spot, was finally joined to the first islet and to the coast in 1889, on the completion of the great wall that forms the most important part of the Pontinha mole (breakwater).

The illustrious commentator of ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra), though somewhat forcedly, offers this explanation of the name Pontinha given to that stretch of the coast: ‘Of these two islets, the one farther out to sea is still now (in 1873) isolated in the waters as before, and so keeps the name of Ilhéu; the other, joined long since to the shore of the island by strong walls, has therefore the name of Pontinha’.

This name, which has prevailed over time, is of quite ancient use and may go back to the mid-16th century. The soundest probabilities suggest that the colonisation of Madeira began around 1425. The historian of the islands, describing the first exploration carried out along the coast and referring in particular to the arrival of the first settlers at the locality later called Funchal, tells us that ‘as it was already late, they went to shelter at the Ilhéus, which lie at the end of it (the valley of Funchal)’. This is the earliest known reference to the Ilhéus da Pontinha (‘islets of the little point’). The locality and the neighbouring stretch of shore would from then on have been called Ilhéus, the name Pontinha later prevailing, as stated above.

In the vicinity of this locality, António Dantas founded in 1622 the chapel of Our Lady of the Peña de Francia (Nossa Senhora da Penha de França), with which several events of considerable interest to the history of Madeira are connected (see Penha de França). Also in the same vicinity, and taking its name from this chapel, a fortress was built in the second quarter of the 17th century. It was rebuilt in 1712 and served as quarters for detachments of English troops in 1801, when they occupied this island.

On the islet farther from the coast, the ‘Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Ilhéu’ was built in 1654. There, in 1682, a small chapel of the same dedication was erected, which had its own chaplain from 1692. In 1866 a tiny red-light lighthouse was installed there, commonly and ironically called ‘the ember of the Islet’ (a braza do Ilhéu); in 1931 it was replaced by a proper lighthouse. Until a few years ago a detachment of the Artillery Company quartered in the Fortress of São Tiago was permanently stationed at this stronghold, chiefly to return the ‘salutes’ of warships entering our harbour. A semaphore station also operated there.

The Pontinha islet, the one nearer the shore, was joined to the facing coast between 1757 and 1762 by solid walls, as already mentioned. It is conjectured that this work was carried out when the small Fort of St Joseph (São José), which once stood there, was built, or a little before. This link, together with the stairway cut at that time into the living rock, already formed a small landing quay, which was much used when the state of the sea did not allow landing on the beach.

Volume I of the Navy and Overseas Archive (Arquivo da Marinha e Ultramar), published in 1907, cites many documents concerning the works that were to be carried out in the harbour of Funchal (Porto do Funchal). It refers to the projects submitted by the engineer Francisco Tossi Colombina and to the works already begun under his direction, which aroused particular interest at the time and included some improvements at the Pontinha.

When one of the islets was joined to the shore around the middle of the 18th century, as already stated, a stairway cut into the cliff or a small landing quay would have been built. This was considerably improved in 1850. A quay on more advantageous lines was completed in 1878, and it received further notable improvements when the mole (breakwater) was built.

The works carried out there from the middle of the 18th century until 1878 did not make landings safe or convenient, and on several occasions makeshift wooden quays had to be built when pressing circumstances of the moment required it.

Around 1872 the construction of the pleasant ‘Estrada da Pontinha’ (‘little point road’) was planned. Especially since the completion of the works on the small harbour of refuge, this road has rendered the public the most valuable services, which will become greater still as the conditions of the harbour improve. Work did not begin at once and construction was slow; it was declared complete only in 1895, some years after the Pontinha mole. The road contributed greatly to the embellishment of the bay (baía), and also eased communications between the busiest part of the city and the western districts of Funchal. On top of the sheer escarpment overlooking this road stand some of the finest quintas in Madeira, which enjoy an enviable position with views of the harbour and of the whole amphitheatre of Funchal.

The Caminho da Pontinha (‘little point road’) runs from the western end of the Cais da Entrada da Cidade (City Entrance Quay) to the mole, and at the session of 6 July 1922 it was given the name Rua Sacadura Cabral (see Aviation).

The Caminho da Pontinha has also been called Avenida do Dr. José António de Almada and Avenida de Francisco Ferrer, making it one of the public thoroughfares most often renamed by our municipal councils. It was to have been opened at the beginning of the 19th century, but was built only much later, between 1873 and 1875, when the late engineer Júlio Augusto Leiria was director of Public Works.

The articles Cais, Ilhéu and Molhe da Pontinha contain further details relevant to this subject, and we refer the reader to them.