Lombada do Loreto

A populated place in the parish of Arco da Calheta, where the ancient chapel of Nossa Senhora do Loreto is located, which is the center of a popular pilgrimage, attracting many people from various distant parishes and especially from the surrounding parishes. This chapel, despite being small, has a certain architectural grandeur, and it is a pity that a poorly adapted porch detracts from the harmony of the whole. Its construction dates back to the early years of the 16th century, having been founded by Pedro Gonçalves da Câmara, grandson of João Gonçalves Zarco, the first captain-donatary of Funchal. There was a large manor house adjacent to it, and the founder made it the seat of the important entail he established. Others attribute the chapel and the entail to D. Joana de Eça, widow of the aforementioned Pedro Gonçalves da Câmara, lady-in-waiting to Queen D. Catarina and patroness of the Convent of Esperança in Lisbon, where she was buried. The nuns of this convent owned many lands in the parish of Arco da Calheta, which were bequeathed to them by D. Joana de Eça. In the ruins of the Church of the Convent of Esperança, the tomb of the patroness D. Joana de Eça was found in the first quarter of this century.