Almagreira (Vila do Porto)

Almagreira (Portuguese pronunciation: [aɫmɐˈɡɾɐjɾɐ]) is a parish in the municipality of Vila do Porto in the Portuguese autonomous region of Azores. The parish population in 2001 was 537 inhabitants, its population density, 50.8 inhabitants/km², and its total area is 10.58 km². It is located northwest of the town of Vila do Porto and is connected to it with a road. It borders the parish of Santo Espírito. Almagreira has a school, a lyceum, a church and a plaza.

History

It is unclear when this area was first referred to as Almagreira, but it stemmed from the exploration of a type of clay common in the area; from the name almagre, for a lead-rich red clay, used for pigment. The importance of this clay was later mentioned in a local poem:

"It was the clay of Almagreira/that moulded our luck/this sailor's luck/Between the ocean and the north wind"^[1]

In addition to the Church of Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho (English: Our Lady of Good Tidings), which evolved from a small chapel constructed in the 18th century, the parish is also the location of several other temples: the Chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (English: Our Lady of Medicine), from the 16th century, as well as the Church of Nossa Senhora do Monte (English: Our Lady of the Mount) and Nossa Senhora da Graça (English: Our Lady of Grace), both constructed in the 19th century.^[2][3]

There are also vestiges of an 16th-17th century Fort of São João Baptista that was used to protect the location from pirate attacks.^[2]

The bishop of the Diocese of Angra, António Caetano da Rocha, on 2 December of 1766 created a new parish, "...the third of the main Church to benefit that people and most populous parish that reside in that par of the mountains".^[4] It was during the 19th century, that thee twelfth Commander in the Order of Christ on Santa Maria, Diogo José Ferreira de Eça e Menezes, third Count of Lousã, who organized the collection of funds to support the creation of a specific Curato Sufragâneo da Matriz na Almagreira (clergy) to reside at the Church of Bom Despacho.

The lands of the northern plateau of the parish were recorded as the most productive on the island, with extensive fields that produced wheat; Lieutenant-Colonel José Carlos Figueiredo, writing in 1815, while in service on the island noted: "...site of the best lands, in squared fields and a good plain of orchards...".^[1] The first primary school began offering classes in 1864.^[2] The ex-Constitution, Canarias, known locally as the sunken boat, was a Spanish-registered ship, which, on 13 November 1871, sunk in Praia Bay.

The civil parish, owing to the dramatic growth, separated from the parish of Nossa Senhora de Assunção (Vila do Porto) by decree on 25 October 1906,^[5] an area that included the communities of Bom Despacho Velho, Brasil, Brejo de Baixo, Brejo de Cima, Brejo do Meio, Carreira, congro, Courelas, Covas, Farropo, Fonte do Mourato, Fonte Nova, Graça and Praia. Much later, a Casa do Povo (community centre) was founded on 6 October 1966, but electricity only reached the parish in August 1971.^[2] At the time, its population has sustained itself on agriculture, woven handicrafts, woollen sweaters and bedspreads.

Geography

Almagreira is situated in the central southern coast of the island of Santa Maria, limited on the east by the Ribeira do Gato, north-east the regional road dissecting the watersheds of the Ribeira da Praia/Farropo and Ribeira do Salto, north and north-west by the Ribeira de João, Ribeira das Covas and on the west by an escarpment between valley of Valverde and Figueiral.^[6] This parish is found within a transitional band from the higher altitude, rugged relief on the eastern coast, and the planar landscape of the western half of the island. The eastern half of the parish is a mountainous zone covered in forests extending to Pico Alto (in the north) and towards Malbusca (in the southeast), passing through Pico das Cavacas (492 metres); it is an area cut by several ravines and substantial watershed on the island.^[6] The western portion of the parish extends to its border with Vila do Porto and São Pedro, along a semi-flat plateau broken by a few volcanic cones, such as Pico do Bom Despacho (294 metres) and Pico do Facho (254 metres). This flat plateau area is the broken by walled parcels of agricultural land from Fonte Nova until Touril and Figuerial, and includes large pasturelands in Brejo de Baixo, in an area known as Tremoçal. Tremoçal has been considered for the location of a new Golf Complex, that includes club house, housing and support structures, covering an area of 99.5 hectares of land.^[7] Meanwhile, the southern coast fronts a large bay, surrounded by basaltic and sedimentary cliffs (such as Touril or Macela) cut by ravines that disgorge into the ocean. The alluvial drainage from these ravines have, over the centuries, formed white-sand beaches (Praia Grande and Praia Pequeno) in Praia Formosa, which are atypical in the Azores.

Access to communities in Almagreira follow the Estrada Regional E.R. 1-2ª roadway that connects São Pedro and Vila do Porto in the northeast corner, through the built-up area of Almagreira proper, to the foothills around Bom Despacho Velho. This accessway, then intersects in the mountains of Pico Alto, around Cruz dos Picos, before continuing to the border of Espírito Santo (in the eastern border), around Fontinhas.^[8] This main road only traverses the northern part of the parish: ancillary roads in Brejo do Baixo and Barreiros connect the isolated coastal village of Praia Formosa, winding down the coastal cliffs of Macela, intersecting Ribeira da Praia and Ribeira do Farropo, before reaching the sea level and then climbing to Barreiros.

The parish includes 14 localities and several isolated dwellings; the most populous area is the parish seat of Almagreira (102 habitants). Since 1911, the population had progressively grown, until 1960, when it began a steady decline.^[6] By 1991, the population of Almagreira was equivalente to 38% of the resident population in 1960. As with many of the islands of the archipelago, emigration was the principal cause of this depopulation.^[6]

Economy

Over the years, the local population has occupied itself traditionally with activities associated with agriculture and cattle-raising (primarily dairy), in addition to artesian handicrafts (works of wicker, wool or produced from loom), as well as regional sweets (such as biscoitos de orelha, cavacas or búzios). As tourism began to permeate the economy of the islands of the Azores, Almagreira was located in a convenient location: the white sand beaches along its southern margins are unique in the archipelago. Consequently, due to its warm summers, and normally placid oceanfront bay, the community attracts tourists from within and outside the Azores.

Architecture

Civic

• Forno do Cal (English: Quicklime Oven) - one of the older remnants of early settlers, the ruins of this cylindrical barrel-vault blast-oven are found in the area around Touril, in the south-west corner of Almagreira, on the plateau near Pico do Facho. Constructed of masonry bricks, the exposed oven was used in the production of lime until the late 19th century, along with other ruins used in its support.^[9]
• Quinta do Falcão (English: Ranch/farm of Judge Falcão) - a large tract of land near the edge of Almagreira's western border, which was once the residence of Magristrate/Judge Falcão, who was one of the politico-administrative leaders of the early settlement of Vila do Porto. The ranch is made of the red-brick masonry typical of the region; the complex consists of a residence, stables, agricultural annexes, cistern and overlook, accessible from the main road by a grand portico in a neoclassical design that includes a long entrance corridor to the main house.^[10]
• Quinta dos Arruda (English: Ranch/farm of the Arrudas) - consisting of main residence, two agricultural buildings (with stables and cistern), pig corrals, wall and formal garden, as well as fields constructed in 1871 for the Arruda family, but all currently in a state of ruin.^[11]

Military

• Fort of São João Baptista da Praia Formosa (English: Saint John the Baptist of Praia Formosa) - also, referred to one time as the Castle of São João Baptista, its ruins are located in the southwest corner of the beach in Praia Formosa; a small fort, it is constituted by platform of bastions, partially-walled and garrisoned, but now limited along the beach by the access roadway, its walls are the only remnants that have survived weathering from ocean storms.^[12]

Religious

• Chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (English: Our Lady of Medicine) - located in southern coastal locality of Praia Formosa alongside the Ribeira da Praia, it is a simple rectangular temple with small sacristy, a decorative archway door (inscribed with the words "1868/S AMARO", when it was then known as the Chapel of São Amaro) and constructed masrony brickwork later painted white. Along with the sacristy, the single nave chapel has a well preserved puplit of wood, with elements designed in the Baroque style (principally spiral rosettas).^[13]
• Chapel of Santa Rita - located off the junction between the Estrada Regional and access road to Valverde, the Chapel is a rectanglar construction appended to the former-residence of a nobelman, designed with a decorative archway and entrance, but simply constructed from masonry brick.^[14]
• Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Monte (English: Our Lady of the Mount) - part of a rural residencia (consisting of house, chapel, secretary, still, cistern, outhouse and pig pen) in the locality of Meia Laranja, and constructed in the 19th century; the chapel was built in 1819, to the rear of the residence, divided by a knee-high wall, and appended to the building, completed with sculpted cornices, that are likewise repeated in the entrance portico at the roadside.^[15]
• Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Graça (English: Our Lady of Grace) - located in the locality of Graça
• Church of Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho - the main parochial church of Almagreira, located on the plateau in Almagreira

References

Notes

Sources

• Moreira, Maria Eugénia S. Albergaria (July 1996). "Almagreira". Angra do Heroísmo (Azores), Porutgal: Centro de Conhecimento dos Açores. http://pg.azores.gov.pt/drac/cca/enciclopedia/ver.aspx?id=3162. Retrieved 2011-01-31. 
• Raposo, António G.B.; Reis, Victorino V.. "A ilha de Santa Maria. História, clima e evolução da população" (in Portuguese). Relatórios e Comunicações do Departamento de Biologia. Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal: University of the Azores. pp. 1–13. http://repositorio.uac.pt/bitstream/10400.3/882/1/A%20Ilha%20de%20Santa%20Maria,%20Hist%C3%B3ria,%20Clima%20e%20Evolu%C3%A7%C3%A3o%20da%20popula%C3%A7%C3%A3o..pdf.