Travel in Santa Maria, Portugal - Culture

Santa Maria (Azores Islands) - Culture

Festivals

The crowning of the "emperor", the displaying of his insignia - crown and sceptre - in the "theatres" of the villages, the procession of the "emperor" and "empress" with their retinue, the women carrying flower-bedecked wicker baskets filled with bread, the bull-carts, with colourful paper and flower decorations on their yokes carrying offerings for the "império" or feast, the music and singing of the "jesters" - all these are phases of a ritual whose origins are lost in time.

On the day of the festival, which varies from parish to parish, open fires are lit early in the morning to heat up the big-bellied pots in which the meat dishes, called soup of the Empire, are cooked. The "império" attracts all the inhabitants of the villages and surroundings, who eat and drink in a joyful atmosphere, in Whitsun and following Sundays.

Other colourful festivals are that of Santo Amaro at Praia, Almagreira, on 15th January, the Festivals of Vile do Porto on 15th August and the festivals of the patron saints of the parishes during the summer months. All the religious ceremonies, lived with devotion, are completed by animated profane festivities with music and dancing.

Music and dancing

The instruments are those used in all the islands of the Azores: the typical guitar known as the viola de arame and other stringed instruments, together with triangles.

The melodies have the same sorrowful tone, the same slow rhythm, that spent up joy that comes from isolation. The dances, always executed in accordance with the rules, have names that excite the curiosity of outsiders, such as "Moda do Moinho de Mão", "Alfinete" (Pin), "Balão", (Baloon), "Mouros" (Moors) and "Eu Fui Acima da Rocha" (I Climbed up the Rock).

The abundant supply of clay, which for centuries was carried to the potteries of Vila Franca do Campo in typical boats and which is still used in São Miguel, made Santa Maria a land of potters whose wares were sold in the other islands of the archipelago. This golden period ended a long time ago but efforts are now being made to resume the local tradition of ceramic art.

The flocks of sheep on the island supply the raw material for warm, hand-made woollen sweaters and for rugs woven on old looms that also produce colourful crazy quilts and linen cloth. Skilful hands turn straw into hats with a characteristic design, wicker into baskets of various shapes and sizes, iron and wood into objects that are used daily in farm work and fishing.

Farm work. The slow and heavy ox-carts creak along the paths, with their massive wheels that come from Roman times. The soil is turned, at the cost of sweat and hard work, by wooden ploughs. After being harvested, the wheat is threshed on small threshing-floors. The "pruning" or unhusking of the maize, which exposes the toasted yellow ears to the light of day, joins together friends and relatives. Windmills stretch out their lattice-work arms at the tops of hills as they turn wheat and maize into flour. Snapshots of farm work on Santa Maria, an island where you can still see ways of extracting a living from the land.

São Lourenço Bay. Like a large sea-shell, with terraced vineyards descending the slopes to the ocean. A magnificent view, which can best be appreciated from the place called Miradouro do Espigão. At one end of the bay lies Romeiro islet, with a small natural quay and a grotto with stalactites and stalagmites, which is worth a visit by boat.

Places to visit: Church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção; Church of Nossa Senhora da Vitória; Chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Anjos; Monastery of Santo Antonio. Fort São Brás; ruins of the supposed house of the Donee, Joao Soares do Sousa and the Forestry Park.

In Vila do Porto, visits should be made to the church of Senhor dos Passos (17th c.) attached to the former Misericordia building, the chapels of Santa Maria Madalena (16th c. building connected to a former convent), Sao Pedro Goncalves (headquarters of the Seamen's Confraternity), Senhora da Boa Nova (17th c.) and the potteries that keep up the techniques that were brought by the first setters and which date back to the Arabs and Moors who occupied the Algarve in the 8th century. At Pedras de Sao Pedro, there are pits called Mata-mouras (literally, Moor Killers) that were used to hide grain and other products from pillages. Nearby lies Vila islet, opposite the headland called Ponta de Malmerendo.

Other places to see....

Church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção
Almagreira. Picturesque village, whose name recalls the exploitation of almagre, a reddish earth rich in lead, used in glazing earthenware.

Mata-mouras. Pits where cereals and other farm products were hidden in times gone by to prevent their being pillaged by corsairs.

Praia. Long beach. Fishing port.

Fort São João Baptista. Ruins of 16th-17th c. fortress.

Santa Barbára. 16th c. church, rebuilt in 1661. High altar. Gilded, carved woodwork. Example of the simple, popular religious architecture of the island.

Santo Espirito. Typical village of white-washed houses set in the luxuriant green countryside. Windmills.

Church of Nossa Senhora da Purificação. Baroque edifice (17th c.). Facade of artistically sculptured stone that stands out from the smooth surfaces. Valuable interior. Linked, by tradition, to the first Holy Ghost Festivals held in the Azores.

São Pedro. Typical village situated in the interior of the island. Excellent vistas.

Church of São Pedro. Portal and large window in sculptured stone stand out in the white facade. 17th c. building. Arch of the chancel. Portuguese royal coat of arms carved in wood.

Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Pilar. 18th c. construction. Carved wooden altar. Sculptured stone retable. Glazed, decorative tiles.

Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Fátima. Built in 1925, it was the first chapel in Portugal to be dedicated to the Virgin after the Chapel of the Apparitions at Fátima. Reached by a stairway. Good view.

Anjos. Picturesque fishing port situated in a faja, a low-lying coastal area.

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