Ribeira dos Socorridos
One of Madeira's main streams, rising at the Torrinhas and dividing several parishes west of Funchal. Its name recalls the rescue by Zargo of companions nearly swept away at its mouth.
This is one of the most important watercourses on the island. It forms the boundary between the parishes (freguesias) of São Martinho (‘St Martin’) and Santo António, on its left bank, and those of Câmara de Lobos (‘seals’ den’) and Estreito de Câmara de Lobos (‘the narrows of Câmara de Lobos’), on its right bank. São Martinho and Câmara de Lobos flank the mouth of the stream. It rises in the interior of the island, in the locality (sítio) of Torrinhas (‘little towers’), and crosses the parish of Curral das Freiras (‘nuns’ fold’).
During the first exploration that João Gonçalves Zarco made along the coast, some of his companions landed at the mouth of this stream and were nearly swept away by the force of the current. The captain promptly came to their aid, and ‘they were rescued and freed from danger... and hence the name... of Ribeira dos Socorridos, says the author of the Saudades.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 07- Ribeira dos Socorridos · Subject
Câmara de Lobos · Funchal. The stream described in the entry.
One of Madeira's main streams, rising at the Torrinhas and dividing several parishes west of Funchal. Its name recalls Zargo's rescue of companions nearly swept away at its mouth. It feeds the Piornais levada, and a masonry road bridge over it was begun in 1848.
- Câmara de Lobos
Parish on the right bank bordering the mouth.
Parish west of Funchal. The Elucidário traces its name to Zarco's discovery voyage and describes its churches, chapels and collegiate chapter, early settlers, fishing community and renowned vineyards. It also records the parish's localities, boundaries, levadas and population.
- Curral das Freiras
Câmara de Lobos. Parish the stream crosses.
Small inland parish set in a deep valley believed to be an extinct volcanic crater and Madeira's main eruptive focus. The estate was bought for the nuns of Santa Clara, who fled there in 1566 and gave it their name, and it was created a parish in 1790. It was earlier a pasture and a refuge for runaway slaves and criminals, and it became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
- Estreito de Câmara de Lobos
Câmara de Lobos. Parish on the right bank.
Estreito de Câmara de Lobos is a parish in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, Madeira, created in the early sixteenth century around the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Graça. It was the main centre of rye-straw hat weaving and cheese-making, grows Sercial, Verdelho, Tinta and Bastardo, and became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
- Santo António
Funchal. Parish on the left bank.
Santo António is a parish in the municipality of Funchal, Madeira, where the São João stream rises and the Jesuits had their Pico do Cardo residence. Its church bears a 1783 Latin inscription, and the parish contains the Madalena, São João e Santana and Pópulo chapels; it also gives its name to a hill of about 400 metres near its church.
- São Martinho
Funchal. Parish on the left bank bordering the mouth.
São Martinho is a suburban parish west of Funchal, created in 1579 from São Pedro and partly added to the city in 1927. It had sugar factories, grew Tinta vines, and has characteristic volcanic bombs. It is the reputed birthplace of D. Nuno de Aguiar.
- Torrinhas
São Vicente. Interior site where the stream rises.
Mountain pass (Boca das Torrinhas) at 1,454 metres in the interior of Madeira, linking the serra of Boaventura with the heights of Lombo Grande above Curral das Freiras. The Ribeira dos Socorridos rises there. It is noted for surviving laurel woods and native plants such as Isoplexis sceptrum and Sedum farinosum.
People
People mentioned · 01- João Gonçalves Zarcod. 1467
Discoverer and first captain of Funchal, who according to tradition rescued companions at the stream's mouth, giving it its name.