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Bull
Fightings
Terceira,
( along with a few other islands ), is well known for bullfight
by the rope. This very special event is unique for Azores. The bull
is let loose with a very long rope around its neck, usually at the
main road in a small village. Before every bull is getting out of
a wooden box, there will be laun- ched a small rocket which provide
a loud noise. This signal indicate, that there is a bull on the
street, and the game is ready to begin. The bull is guided by several
experienced men, keeping a grip at the roap. The who- le idea is,
that the local young men now try to get as close to the bull as
they dear, teasing the bull going crazy.
All this game is very amusing and dangerous, and in a way also an
attempt from the boys to impress the local girls. After a while
the bull is taken back to the wooden box, as it arrived in, and
another rocket will be launched, announcing a break in the game.
Now it's time to move around, have something to eat, a drink ( or
several ), or leave the village. This is an outstanding local event,
and gather many, many people. As a tou- rist you should arrive in
due time. Find a secure place with a good vue. Usu- ally there is
a total of 3-4 bulls in every event. To find out where and when
this event take place, ask the tourist office or the local bar.
Every local knows. If there is bullfighting in the arena when you
are there, you really must try to get a ticket. It's a great opportunity
to watch bullfight in another way, than the Spanish. The bull is
not to be killed. The Toreador will place small " knives " on the
back of the bull like in Spain, but only until a certain point in
the game. Then 6-7 other men enter the arena. One of them walk bravely
slowly direct towards the bull. Now the bull start running fast
directly against this man to attack him. Just before the bull is
hitting the man in the belly, he grab around the bulls neck with
both arms, trying to stop the bull. Now the other men stan- ding
behind him, preventing him from falling. One man grabbing the bulls
tail, forcing the bull turning round, and make the bull standing
still. To get the bull out of the arena, 3-4 cows now enter the
arena. Of cause that interest the bull, who now follows the cows
out of the arena. That's all. Hard to understand?. Well, it's hard
to explain ! I find it very amusing to watch, and I can warmly recommend
to go and see it. It's far more human to watch than Spanish bullfighting.
After the game the bull are taken to the vet to be taken care of.
After this the bull continue its normal life in the countryside.
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São
Mateus da Calheta. Picturesque fishing
village. Forts Grande and Negrito, remains of the former fortifications
erected all over the island to defend it from a Spanish invasion (16th
c.). Two picturesque impérios or chapels of the Holy Ghost (19th
c.). A whale hunting station, described by Prince Albert of Monaco in
the 19th c., used to exist at Negrito.
Santa Bárbara. Parish church. 15th c. edifice, with later
alterations. Gilded, sculptured woodwork. Image of St. Barbara, in stone
from ARQA. Close to the church lies an império of the Holy Ghost
(19th c.).
 Vila
Nova. Characteristic village. On nearby Agualva stream, a number
of old water-mills set in a verdant landscape. Interesting império
of the Holy Ghost (l9th c.).
Place to visit: Church of the Divino Espirito Santo.
Fontinhas.
Church of Nossa Senhora da Pene. Originated in a 16th c. edifice
that was profoundly altered in the 19th c. High altar. Carved woodwork.
Decorative tiles. Close to an império of the Holy Ghost (19th
c.). Chapel of Santo António. Picturesque l9th c. construction.
Lajes.
Old village. Site of the air base which played an important part
in the anti-submarine campaign of the Allies during the 2nd World War,
and which also served as a supporting point for several air operations
against the Axis forces. Today it is part of the defensive system of
the Atlantic.
Places to visit: Church of São Miguel Arcanjo and Casa do Espanhol.
 São
Sebastião. Site of the first settlement on the island. An
old and characteristic town that received its charter in 1503. Picturesque
império or chapel of the Holy Ghost, with figures.
Places to visit: Church of São Sebastião and Chapel of
Santa Ana.
Ribeirinha.
Church of São Pedro. 16th c. building that was expanded in
the 18th c. High altar. Gilded, carved woodwork. 16th c. image of Christ.
The village contains four impérios of the Holy Ghost, three of
which date from the l9th c.
Galleons,
shipwrecks and treasures. Off the coast of Terceira lie the remains
of swift caravels and other ships engaged in the African trade, large
galleons from Peru and the Orient and war-like frigates with bright
bronze cannon. These ships have transformed the coast into a hidden
museum, the memory of times gone by, of struggles and suffering, of
hope and danger.
The battle
of Salga. After bombarding Angra on 5th July 1581, a Spanish fleet
of ten ships, commanded by Don Pedro Valdez, reconnoitred the coast
of the island in search of the best landing places, At dawn on the 25th
July, the first ships loaded with Spanish troops anchored in Salga bay.
 A
watchman, stationed at the cape called Ponta do Coelho, gave the alarm,
but when the first Portuguese forces arrived about one thousand Castilians
had already landed and had started to sack the surroundings. In this
phase of the fighting a leading role was played by young and pretty
Brianda Pereira who, together with other women, attacked the enemy when
she saw her house destroyed by them.
By nine a. m. the fighting was heavy. The Spaniards swept the coast
with their artillery, which made the task of the defenders more difficult.
About mid-day, when the outcome of the battle was still indecisive,
an Augustinian named Friar Pedro, who was taking an active part in the
struggle, thought of the stratagem of driving wild cattle against the
Spaniards so as to scatter them. Over a thousand head of cattle were
quickly gathered and, by means of shouts and musket shots, driven against
the enemy positions. The terrified Spaniards fell back and were pursued
to the shore, where almost all of them lost their lives in the fighting
or drowned while trying to reach their boats.
The Corte
Real family and America. Captain-donee of Angra in 1474 and later
of the island of São Jorge, João Vaz Corte-Real took part
in voyages of exploration, and is said to have reached Newfoundland
before 1472 and afterwards, with his two sons Gaspar and Miguel, the
North American continent.
Gaspar Corte-Real was to carry out two voyages of discovery. The first,
in 1500, is said to have reached Greenland and the entrance to Hudson
Bay and to have sailed along the coast of Canada to the St. Lawrence
River. On his second voyage, in 1501, his caravel disappeared.
In 1502, Miguel, anxious to discover his brother's fate, headed a rescue
expedition which never returned. According to the inscription on the
famous Dighton rock in Rhode Island he became chief of the Indians in
the Wampanois and Providence region. These two unfortunate brothers
were therefore the first Europeans to tread the soil of the North American
continent.
Vasco Anes Corte-Real, the eldest brother, who had inherited the captaincies
of Angra and São Jorge, wanted to set out in search of his kinsmen
but was prevented from doing so by King Manual I.
Flemish
art in the Azores. In the 15th and 16th centuries, relations with
Flanders, which also supplied settlers, made it possible for the Azores
to receive works of religious art from that region, which was then one
of the artistic centres of Europe Dating from that period, the Azores
have about one hundred Flemish sculptures (mainly from the towns of
Zoutleeuw and Malines, which identified them with initials) and fewer
than twenty paintings.
This legacy constitutes a true artistic treasure, since so many works
from that period were destroyed in Flanders by the wars of religion.
It is possible that only Spain has a larger number of Flemish images
in its museums and churches. For over a century Flemish art influenced
the output of religious images in the Azores until, with the Spanish
occupation (1583 to 1640) and the masters of Angra cathedral, a new
aesthetic style was adopted.
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