Ribeira da Janela (parish)

The most abundant and longest watercourse that rises in the interior of the island, amid towering mountains, and flows into the ocean is the one called Ribeira da Janela. Near its mouth stands a small islet, 40 metres high, with a natural hole almost at its top which, from a certain distance, readily brings to mind a window opening in the rock face. This is the origin of the name that the first settlers gave to this stream. The settlement or cluster of inhabitants that gradually grew up on its banks naturally took the name the stream already bore. Such is the origin of the name of the parish (freguesia) of Ribeira da Janela.

The land that today forms this parish belonged almost entirely to the parish of Porto do Moniz, while a less considerable part of it belonged to the parish of Seixal. By the middle of the 16th century there were already inhabitants with a fixed residence on the slopes of the stream, and in the last quarter of the same century there were some homesteads on the right bank, which belonged to the parish of Porto Moniz.

The chapel of Nossa Senhora da Incarnação (Our Lady of the Incarnation) is said to have been founded in 1630 by António Fernandes and Manuel Rodrigues, who lived there, and it is said that some years later it was destroyed by a great flash flood (aluvião). It is certain, however, from documents we have examined, that the chapel was built by the people in 1699, its endowment being dated 7 September of that year. Was this a rebuilding or the original construction? We do not know, but we are inclined to believe that 1699 is the year of its first building. In 1754 the chapel was enlarged, and licence for its blessing was granted on 28 April of that year. In 1852 the works for building a new church were put out for award by public auction (arrematação) for the sum of 6,100,000 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis), but construction never began. It was only in the last quarter of the 19th century that the small church underwent a great transformation. It was converted into the chancel, and the nave of the church was added to it; the works were declared complete in 1874. Over the portico is the following inscription: ‘Built by the people and directed by Father Pombo in 1879.’ Great contributions to this important work were made by the parish priest of the time, Father Manuel da Silva Pombo, by Dr João Barbosa de Matos e Câmara and by José Teixeira Rebêlo, a landowner in this parish and representative of a noble and ancient family which owned entailed lands (terras vinculadas) here. In 1922 new and important repairs were carried out in this church, owing to the efforts of the present parish priest, Father Manuel Vasconcelos da Incarnação (1921).

This chapel was served by a private chaplain until the diocesan prelate, Dom Friar Manuel Coutinho, by a warrant (provisão) of 25 September 1726, established a provisional curacy (curato) in it. The curacy was formally created by royal decree (alvará régio) of 4 February 1733, which states that it had been created at the request of the vicar of Porto Moniz, Paulo Vieira Jardim, and which assigned the curate an annual stipend of one and a half pipas (wine cask and measure, c. 400–500 litres) of wine and one and a half moios (dry measure of grain, 60 alqueires) of wheat. It was a curacy dependent on the vicarage of Porto do Moniz, but, like other curacies of this diocese, it gradually freed itself from the mother church (igreja matriz) and became an autonomous parish. The first priest to exercise parochial duties here was Father Inacio de Aguiar Sequeira.

The uplands of this parish (freguesia) are celebrated here in Madeira for their incomparable beauty. Foremost among them is the well-known locality (sítio) of Fanal, which, with its wonderful pond (lagoa), its dense and gigantic trees, the picturesque character of the place, its astonishing landscapes and crystal-clear waters, is a spot full of the greatest attractions and the most fascinating charms. Anyone who knows the natural beauties of this island well but has not crossed the uplands of Ribeira da Janela is unaware of a new aspect of those beauties, and one of the most marvellous.

The land of this parish is remarkably fertile and yields in abundance every crop customarily grown in Madeira. It is irrigated by the Levada dos Cedros and the Levada do Lombo Gordo. A new levada (irrigation channel) is planned for the near future (1921); construction work on it began many years ago, as has been said elsewhere in this work.

The principal localities of this parish are Casais de Baixo, Penedo, Casais da Igreja, Casais de Além and Eira da Achada. It has 748 inhabitants (1921).

As a mere curiosity, we will add that someone informed us that the inhabitants of Ribeira da Janela are very hard-working, deeply religious, intelligent and... vindictive.