Waterfalls
Original title: Quedas de Água
A list of the best-known waterfalls on Madeira island, grouped by the streams and valleys where they occur.
The best known on the island of Madeira are the following:
- that of Eiró, near Fajã dos Padres
- that of the Ribeiro da Lombada do Esmeraldo
- that of the Ribeiro de São Tiago, near Ponta do Sol
- that of the Ribeiro do Ledo, near Loreto
- that of Paul do Mar
- that of one of the tributaries of the Ribeira do Tristão
- that of the Ribeira de João Delgado, near Seixal
- those of the Ribeira do Inferno
- that of Água de Vento, in Seixal
- those of Poço das Cales, Poço da Furna, Poço Pulido and Poço do Passassol, in the valley of São Vicente
- that of Risco, in Rabaçal
- those near the Serrado das Ameixieiras
- that of the Madre de Água, on the Ribeira de Santa Cruz
- those of Caldeirão Verde, Silveira, Lombo and others on or near the Ribeira de São Jorge
- those of the Ribeira de João Gomes
- those of the Ribeira de Santa Luzia, the largest of which is that of the Poço do Cabo da Ribeira
- that of the Ribeiro do Pisão, in Monte
- and that of the Ribeiro and Lage, beyond Ribeiro Frio.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 18
- Waterfalls · Subject
The Elucidário entry lists the best-known waterfalls on Madeira island. They are grouped by the streams and valleys where they occur.
- Caldeirão Verde
Santana. Waterfall in the Ribeira de São Jorge area.
Caldeirão Verde is a picturesque mountain site in Santana parish, reached by an improved road. It is recorded as a scenic spot worth visiting and popular in summer.
- Fajã dos Padres
Ribeira Brava. Locality near the Eiró waterfall.
Fajã dos Padres is a small coastal fajã beyond Cabo Girão in the parish of Campanário, one of the best-known fajãs of Madeira. It was a Jesuit estate famed for the island's best Malmsey and also for Sercial; its Jesuit chapel was destroyed by Algerian corsairs in 1626. The Elucidário gives the pirate raid as 1625 in one note and 1626 in another.
- Monte
Funchal. Parish with the Ribeiro do Pisão waterfall.
Parish of Nossa Senhora do Monte above Funchal, at about 600 m, where leafing occurs later than in Funchal. It contains the localities of Jardim Botânico, Igreja and Marmeleiros and the Quinta de Sant'Ana. The Elucidário notes its many plants, such as acacias and Sonchus fruticosus.
- Paul do Mar
Calheta. Site of a waterfall.
Paul do Mar is a parish on Madeira's south-west coast, created in 1676 from Estreito da Calheta. It is a fishing port watered by the old Rabaçal levada, where malvasia is grown and trachoma was reported to be very frequent. It had the Santo António fortress, a band, and salt works from about 1865 that were later abandoned for lack of profit.
- Ponta do Sol
Town near the São Tiago waterfall.
South-coast parish and municipality, settled from about 1440 by Rodrigo Enes 'o Coxo'. Its parish church of Nossa Senhora da Luz holds a triptych. The Elucidário also records its quay of 1848, paid for by the council, and the royal visit of 1858.
- Rabaçal
Calheta. Site of the Risco waterfall.
An upland site at about 1,000 m in the valley of the Ribeira da Janela, where the springs feeding the Rabaçal levadas and the Ribeira da Janela are tapped. It has an unfinished Spanish-era water tunnel, the Casas do Rabaçal refuge huts and a rain-gauge post. It is a resort from which visitors reach the Vinte e Cinco Fontes, and a beauty spot visited by Prince Luís in 1858.
- Ribeira de João Gomes
Funchal. Stream with waterfalls.
The Ribeira de João Gomes is a stream in Funchal that rises in the Serra do Poiso, receives the Ribeira das Cales and was once called Ribeira de Nossa Senhora do Calhau. It marked the eastern limit of the planned city walls and of the parish of Santa Luzia, and the Calhau church stood beside it. The 1941 municipal slaughterhouse stands on its right bank.
- Ribeira de Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz. Stream with the Madre de Água waterfall.
Ribeira de Santa Cruz is a stream that rises at Santo António da Serra and flows through Santa Cruz to the sea. Its chief tributary is the Ribeira da Serra de Água, and it has the Madre de Água waterfall. The name also denotes a locality of the parish.
- Ribeira de Santa Luzia
Funchal. Stream whose largest fall is at Poço do Cabo da Ribeira.
The Ribeira de Santa Luzia is one of the three streams crossing Funchal, named after a chapel of Santa Luzia on its left bank. Its banks were probably the first land irrigated by levadas and had four sugar mills in the late 17th century. It feeds the Santa Luzia, Moinhos and D. Isabel levadas, and the Jesuits' Fundoa residence stood on its right bank.
- Ribeira de São Jorge
Santana. Stream with several waterfalls.
The Ribeira de São Jorge is a stream that rises near Pico Ruivo, crosses São Jorge parish and reaches the sea at the São Jorge landing place. It has several waterfalls, and its valley is recommended for its scenery.