Quinta Grande (parish)

In ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra) we read: ‘reaching (João Gonçalves Zarco) a height above Câmara de Lobos (‘seals’ den’), he marked out there where a church of the Spirito Santo should be built. Passing further down to some very high mountains, there he marked out another church, of the Vera-Cruz; and all these heights he took for his Heirs’. These high mountains and the church of Vera-Cruz (see that entry) are today an integral part of the parish (freguesia) of Quinta Grande (‘large estate’).

A considerable stretch of the land that makes up the present parish originally belonged to the parish of Ribeira Brava (‘wild river’), and the rest to the parish of Câmara de Lobos. When the parish of Campanário (‘bell tower’) was created around the middle of the 16th century, it received the part of Quinta Grande that then lay within the jurisdiction of the parish of Ribeira Brava.

Among the properties the Jesuits owned on this island, one stood out: the estate in the parish of Campanário which, because of its size and importance, was known as the Quinta Grande. As already stated, this land originally belonged to the discoverer João Gonçalves Zarco and passed into the hands of some of his descendants. It is not known when they disposed of it, nor when it was granted or sold to members of the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits were dispossessed of the property when all their goods were confiscated in 1759. In the following years the rent of the estate was let by award by public auction (arrematação), until in 1770 it was sold at public auction and acquired by João Francisco de Freitas Esmeraldo for the sum of 140,000 cruzados, that is, 56,000.00 escudos (the Portuguese currency from 1911: 1 escudo = 100 centavos = 1,000 réis), a very considerable amount for the time. We suspect that this purchase included the property called Fajã dos Padres (Volume II, page 6), but we cannot state beyond doubt that this was so.

It may not be easy today to determine precisely the boundaries of the land belonging to the Jesuits that bore the name of Quinta Grande. This became the name of the future parish, whose area was considerably enlarged when the curacy (curato) was created. One question arises: when the Jesuits acquired this property, was it already called Quinta Grande, or was it given that name on passing into the possession of those religious, because it was one of the largest estates they held on this island? The version generally adopted is that it was the Jesuits who gave the property the name of Quinta Grande, and we know of no reasons that contradict this assertion.

A population centre of some importance had grown up between the parishes of Campanário and Câmara de Lobos, and it had become very difficult to bring spiritual assistance to that settlement. The diocesan bishop, Dom Friar Joaquim de Meneses e Ataíde, therefore decided, by his warrant (provisão) of 8 February 1820, to establish a curacy with its seat at the chapel of Our Lady of Remedies (Nossa Senhora dos Remédios). Its area was to take in the 93 households of the localities of Vera-Cruz and Fontainhas (‘little springs’), which belonged to Campanário, and the 41 households of the localities of Cama do Bispo (‘bishop’s bed’) and Cadeirinha (‘little chair’), which belonged to Câmara de Lobos. In the very month of its creation the curacy was filled by Father Felisberto de Gouveia. Its jurisdiction remained dependent on the parish priests of the two neighbouring parishes, which had given up their land to form this chaplaincy with cure of souls (capelania-curada), not yet an autonomous parish. It seems that the parish priest of Campanário always exercised the broader jurisdiction there, and in the end he took over all supervision of the curacy’s religious services.

This arrangement, however, lasted only until 1848, when a royal letter (carta régia) of 24 July of that year raised the curacy of Quinta Grande to the rank of an autonomous parish. The curate at the time, Manuel Joaquim Serrão, was appointed its first provisional parish priest (pároco encomendado). The following priests then served the parish in succession: Fathers António Silvino Gonçalves de Andrade, António Feliciano de Freitas, José Isidoro Gonçalves, João Fernandes de Freitas, Agostinho Teodoro Pita, António Rodrigues Denis Henriques, Eugénio Rodrigues Teixeira and Augusto Prazeres dos Santos. The first collated parish priest (pároco colado, instituted for life) was Agostinho Teodoro Pita, in 1862.

Among these parish priests, Father António Rodrigues Denis Henriques deserves special mention. He served as pastor of this parish for 46 years, always setting an example of the most austere life, the most ardent zeal and the greatest selflessness in carrying out his ministry. The rebuilding of the present church is owed to him, and he rendered other important services to the parish. He was born in the parish of Câmara de Lobos on 2 September 1833 and died there on 6 January 1922.

At Quinta Grande stood the chapel of Our Lady of Remedies, which was the seat of the curacy established in 1880 and also served as the seat of the parish. It was preferred to the chapel of Vera-Cruz because it was more central, and perhaps for other reasons unknown to us. It was built in 1601 and underwent some alterations over time, above all in 1901, when it was considerably enlarged. It is the centre of a well-attended pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady of Remedies, the patron saint of the parish. The pilgrimage festival takes place on the second Sunday of September each year, drawing enormous crowds from the surrounding parishes.

We shall discuss the chapels of this parish elsewhere in this work.

The main localities are Igreja, Aviceiro, Cama do Bispo, Ribeira do Escrivão, Quinta, Fontes, Lombo Vera-Cruz and Fontainhas. The last of these is very picturesque and well worth a visit. The parish has a state school, founded in April 1914. Its population is 996 inhabitants (1921).