Paiol is the military powder magazine of Funchal, built in 1825 to replace the storage of gunpowder in the fortress of São João do Pico. The first cholera cases of 1910 occurred near it.
A cholera epidemic spread through Madeira from October 1910 to February 1911, the first case occurring near the Paiol on 20 October; Dr Carlos França came to Funchal to direct the fight against it, and the epidemic prompted the idea of an orphan asylum.
