Parishes / Freguesias
The Franciscan religious who accompanied João Gonçalves Zargo when he began the settlement and colonization of Funchal were the first priests on this island to perform ecclesiastical and parish functions in the chapels of Santa Catarina, S. Paulo, Nossa Senhora do Calhau, Conceição de Cima, S. Sebastião, S. João, etc.. The first parish created was undoubtedly in Funchal, but it is difficult to determine with precision its first seat today, and it is likely that it was not always the same and that the parish service was exercised simultaneously in more than one chapel. The annotator of the 'Saudades' suggests that perhaps the first parish had been established in the hermitage of S. Sebastião, which is just a simple conjecture. Dr. Alvaro de Azevedo affirms that the first temple erected in Funchal was that of S. Sebastião, which does not seem to be true, as we will see elsewhere, and from there he deduces the probability of the creation of the first parish in that chapel. The discoverer João Gonçalves Zargo established his primitive residence on the heights of Santa Catarina and later in S. Paulo, but it is certain that the first and most important nucleus of population was formed not far from the beach and on the left bank of the river, which later became known as João Gomes, and it is more likely that the seat of the first parish was established there, at least when it became a more permanent and more definitive organization.
The original chapel of Nossa Senhora do Calhau dates from the second quarter of the 15th century, being built around 1438, and it should be counted from this time or shortly thereafter the creation of the parish that had its first seat there.
The Order of Christ, always jealous of its privileges and prerogatives, fearing that the Franciscan religious would arrogate to themselves the rights that belonged to it by the donation of the spiritual that had been made to it of this archipelago, sent a qualified member of the same order to this island, Fr. Nuno Cão (see this name), in order to oversee all religious services and assert the rights and exemptions that D. Duarte had granted to the said order by the Royal Charter of September 26, 1433. Fr. Nuno Cão took over the direction of the parish of Nossa Senhora do Calhau, and when it transferred its seat in 1508 to the temple that later became the cathedral, that ecclesiastic continued to be the parish priest of the parish until in 1514 he was appointed dean, on the occasion of the creation of the diocese.
The first parish, while it had its seat in Nossa Senhora do Calhau, as well as after it was transferred to the Great Church, had a very large area, and from it new parishes were gradually being dismembered, as happened in many other parts of the island. By 1558, Funchal was divided into two parishes, with their seats in the churches of the Cathedral and Nossa Senhora do Calhau. By then, the chapels of S. Martinho, Santo António, S. Roque, Nossa Senhora do Monte, and Nossa Senhora das Neves were already other centers of population and constituted populated estates of relative importance, soon transformed into autonomous parishes or curacies and became the seats of new parishes. In 1566, the parish of S. Pedro had been created, which had a short duration, as it was extinguished in 1579, being restored again in 1589.
Outside Funchal, Câmara de Lobos seems to have been the first parish created in 1430, and perhaps at the same time or shortly thereafter that of Calheta, which are considered older than Machico, despite the latter being the seat of a captaincy. By 1440, the parishes of Ribeira Brava and Caniço were created, and then the parish of Ponta de Sol and Santa Cruz. From all of these, new parishes were dismembered as the population spread and climbed the mountains and hills of the interior.
We dedicate a special article to each of the parishes of this archipelago, in which we give a brief account of the facts that may be of interest to their history.
We then present the complete list of all the parishes.
Of these municipalities, Porto do Moniz, São Vicente, and Sant'Ana are on the north coast of Madeira, and the rest are on the south coast, in addition to Porto Santo, which is on the island of the same name.