Praça da Rainha (square)
Original title: Praça da Rainha
A former public square on the Funchal seafront, built in 1839 and named after Queen Maria II, later used for mulberry and silkworm trials and for pavilions, and renamed Praça do Marquês de Pombal in 1910.
It was built in 1839 on land that had previously been used to store the boats and anchors belonging to the Military Train.
In May 1877 the square was granted to Dr João da Câmara Leme Homem de Vasconcelos, a physician in Funchal, as a nursery for white mulberry trees. A great many of these trees came to grow there, together with various installations for rearing and exploiting the silkworm, but these sericultural trials yielded no encouraging results.
The pavilions that stand today on the site of the former Praça da Rainha (‘Queen’s Square’) began to be built in 1897, under a concession granted by the Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal) on 30 May 1895. The original concessionaires intended to set up a permanent bazaar of Madeiran industry and an exhibition of horticulture and floriculture there (1921).
Within the former Praça da Rainha there was once a pond (lagoa) built for swimming exercises, but it was never put to this use; to the west of the square there was another pond intended for the same purpose, which was likewise never used. Both ponds were filled in many years ago.
Since November 1910 the former Praça da Rainha has been called Praça do Marquês de Pombal.
The construction of the ‘Avenida do Mar’ (‘seafront avenue’) swept away the greater part of its area.
The name ‘Praça da Rainha’ was given in honour of Queen Maria II.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 05-
The Praça da Rainha was built on land formerly used by the Trem Militar for boats and anchors.
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Funchal council granted the Praça da Rainha to the Conde do Canavial for a white-mulberry nursery and silkworm-rearing trials.
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The municipal council granted a concession for pavilions in the Praça da Rainha for a permanent bazaar and horticultural exhibition.
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Construction of the pavilions on the Praça da Rainha began.
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Praça da Rainha was renamed Praça do Marquês de Pombal.
Place
Places mentioned · 04- Praça da Rainha · Subject
Funchal
A former public square on the Funchal seafront, built in 1839 and named after Queen Maria II. It later held the Conde do Canavial's silkworm installations and mulberry plantations, as well as pavilions, and was renamed Praça do Marquês de Pombal in 1910.
- Avenida do Mar
Funchal. Seafront avenue whose construction removed most of the square.
The Avenida do Mar is a seafront avenue in Funchal, inaugurated in 1939. Its construction removed most of the Praça da Rainha and required the demolition of the fish market, and its extension required new markets.
- Funchal
City where the square stood.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Praça do Marquês de Pombal
Funchal. Name given to the former Praça da Rainha from November 1910.
Square in Funchal, formerly the Praça da Rainha, renamed in November 1910. Part of it was granted in 1877 for a white-mulberry nursery, and the Fontes battery stood to its west. It hosted the Quincentenary fair and agricultural exhibition, infantry honours for the President of the Republic, and the laying of the foundation stone of the Great War memorial.
People
People mentioned · 02-
Funchal physician granted the square in 1877 as a nursery for white mulberry trees and for unsuccessful silkworm-rearing trials.
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Queen of Portugal in whose honour the square was named.