History
Gonçalo Velho Cabral, nobleman in the House of Infante D. Henrique (Henry the Navigator) and commander in the Order of Christ, arrived on the island of Santa Maria in 1432. In the cartography of the 14th Century, the island was referred to as Ilha dos Lobos ("Island of Wolves"). It became the seat of the first Captaincy of the Azores, which initially included both Santa Maria and São Miguel.
Its first settlement began in 1439, with the occupation of Praia dos Lobos (in the northern coast around Anjos). Fernão de Quental would later (around 1450) establish a colony in the south along an escarpment overlooking a small bay that aforded protection for ships: what would become known as the Vila do Porto ("town of the port"). This town would become incorporated in 1470, with the establishment of the first lighthouse in the Azores. Although never experiencing earthquakes since its initial settlement (in comparison to the other islands in the Azores), the community was always marked by isolation, inaccessibility and weak defensive position.
In 1901, it received an official visit from King D. Carlos and Queen D. Amélia, and later that year elected the first Republican municipal government.
Read more about this topic: Vila Do Porto (Azores)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“When the landscape buckles and jerks around, when a dust column of debris rises from the collapse of a block of buildings on bodies that could have been your own, when the staves of history fall awry and the barrel of time bursts apart, some turn to prayer, some to poetry: words in the memory, a stained book carried close to the body, the notebook scribbled by hand—a center of gravity.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyse yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“The reverence for the Scriptures is an element of civilization, for thus has the history of the world been preserved, and is preserved.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)