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Madalena, Pico Island
Discover Madalena, the capital city of Pico Island, in Azores, Portugal.
Madalena
© Luciano Canelas
Madalena, the capital of Pico Island, is usually accessible by sea from Horta, the capital city of Faial Island. The trip is 5 maritime miles long, and lasts approximately 30 minutes (half of the time if you travel by express), and an hour if you depart from Velas, São Jorge Island.
Madalena, Azores
© Luciano Canelas
Porto Cachorro
© Luciano Canelas
Its old and picturesque pier has been situated taking advantage of the sea arm which has been enlarged between the houses and the parish facade. It is a very nice and lively place.
In Madalena it is a must to visit its old town, in which streets is located the Igreja de Santa María Madalena Church, with its two twin towers crowned by hexagonal basis spires and decorative comb with a 19th century clock ; and the 18th century Municipal Council, ornamented with polychromed weapons escorted of the reign. The most picturesque streets of the old town are the Consuelheiro Terra Pinheiro, with the tourism office; and the Ouvidor Medeiros, which reaches until the bathing area of Areia Funda.
A little bit further from the centre is located the Museu do Vinho (Wine Museum), situated in an interesting winery.
In this city there is no place for boredom, since, it has interesting places to see and offers numerous fascinating activities, such as cetacean sighting, with departures from the port; skating, hosting Madalena a huge skating rink; and diverse water activities in natural bathing areas, and a fantastic municipal pool in Areia Larga. The nights cheer up in the terraces nearby the church and the ones surrounding the former port. Furthermore, on Fridays and Saturdays during the summer time, the City Council usually schedules outdoor performances lasting until 23:00.
Next to the South and the East of the city there is a vineyard landscape where 90% of the grapevines is, occupying in total 3,074 hectares declared World Heritage by UNESCO.
Around 8 kilometres to the east is situated the bay and the Porto Cachorro (Cachorro Port), which raises over a lava formation since 1718 and where it is exhibited the face of a puppy. Around this area you can also find different natural pools, and from various points of the coast you can see the neighbour islands of Faial and São Jorge .
1 kilometre to the south from Madalena is located the vintner landscape of Crição Velha, the most representative one of the culture of the vineyard of the island.
8 kilometres in the same direction is located Candelária, with a Mother Temple from 1803, accompanied with statues of the Bishops José da Costa Nunes, first Azorian to be a cardinal; and Jaime García Goulart. The comb of the facade is a little bit higher than its towers, following architecture from Faial, with two cupolas on the back, under which there are three Late-Baroque altars and the tomb of the Prelate da Costa.
3 kilometres towards the interior is located the Quinta das Rosas, with its beautiful gardens full of flowers (visits allowed from 9:00 to 18:00); and a viewpoint.
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