Praia Formosa
São Martinho · Funchal
beach in the parish of São Martinho, municipality of Funchal, Madeira
Praia Formosa is a sandy beach west of Funchal, forming the southern boundary of the parish of São Martinho. French corsairs landed there on 3 October 1566 before sacking Funchal, and the site was later fortified. The Elucidário also records the wreck of the Britannia in 1828, quarantine anchorage off the beach, abundant olivine crystals and several notable plants.
1Mentioned in
- São Martinho (parish) — Southern boundary of the parish.
- Profundidades — Beach near the Fojo profundidade.
- Geology — Beach where olivine crystals are abundant at high spring tides.
- Acacia — Beach where Acacia leucocephala grows subspontaneously.
- Shipwrecks — Beach where the Britannia was wrecked in 1828.
- Buxo da Rocha — Beach where Chamaemeles coriacea grows.
- Rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum) — Other end of that coastal stretch.
- Lazaretto — Beach off which suspect ships anchored for quarantine.
- Sack of Funchal by the French — Landing place of the corsairs on 3 October 1566.
- Madeira (hydrographic features: bays, coves, landing places and beaches) — Listed as one of the principal beaches of the south coast.
- Fortifications — Landing site of the corsairs in 1566; later fortified.
- Page (Roberto) — Near a wooden bridge Page built.
- Salt pans — Named in the 1792 licence; traces of old salt pans survive there.
- Spanish émigrés — Beach where the émigrés secretly embarked at night to leave the island.
- Madeira (landscape) — Coastal scenic spot recommended.
- Cruz (point) — Beach lying just west of the point.
- Madeiran Naval Club — Place where cochineal still appeared on prickly pears.
2Chronology
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French Huguenot corsairs under Montluc, guided by Gaspar Caldeira, landed at Praia Formosa and sacked Funchal, storming the fortress of São Lourenço, profaning the cathedral and the Santa Clara convent, whose nuns fled to the Curral; Gaspar de Braga died resisting them. The attack, during the captaincy of Francisco Gonçalves da Câmara, prompted new coastal fortifications.