Feteiras

Feteiras
Civil Parish
The coastal plain of Feteiras, with its surroundings of pasturelands and subdivided parecels
Official name: Freguesia das Feteiras
Name origin: Portuguese for places of many ferns
Country  Portugal
Autonomous Region  Azores
Island São Miguel
Municipality Ponta Delgada
Localities Biscoito, Chã do Tanque, Feteiras
Center Cerrado da Fonte de Cima
 - elevation 406 m (1,332 ft)
 - coordinates 37°48′58″N 25°46′31″W / 37.81611°N 25.77528°WCoordinates: 37°48′58″N 25°46′31″W / 37.81611°N 25.77528°W
Highest point Éguas
 - location Sete Cidades Massif
 - elevation 873 m (2,864 ft)
 - coordinates 37°49′37″N 25°45′17″W / 37.82694°N 25.75472°W
Area 23.53 km2 (9 sq mi)
 - water .05 km2 (0 sq mi)
 - urban .52 km2 (0 sq mi)
Population 1,571 (2011)
Density 67 / km2 (174 / sq mi)
LAU Junta Freguesia
 - location Largo da Igreja
President Junta João Manuel Raposo Barbosa
Timezone Azores (UTC-1)
 - summer (DST) Azores (UTC0)
Postal Zone 9500-554
Area Code & Prefix (+351) 292 XXX-XXXX
Demonym Feteirense
Patron Saint Santa Luzia
Location of the civil parish of Feteiras in the municipality of Ponta Delgada
Wikimedia Commons: Feteiras (Ponta Delgada)
Statistics: Instituto Nacional de Estatística[1]
Geographic detail from CAOP (2010)[2] produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP)

Feteiras is a civil parish in the municipality of Ponta Delgada in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. It is situated in the western part of the island of São Miguel, on the south coast. The population in 2011 was 1,571,[3] in an area of 23.53 km².[4]

History

Father Lopez da Luz, writing in the Revista Micaelense, noted that the beginnings of settlement in this region, occurred half a century after the island's settlement.[5] Gaspar Frutuoso, writing in Saudades da Terra indicated that it obtained the name Feteiras for the pasturelands of ferns that grew in the pasturelands.[5] Has he noted:

"...and the arriba, on land, is the place of Feteiras that obtained this name because there existed many ferns, in a land that is low and high, very well shaded, that it wants this area to be like on the island of Madeira, whose parish, is to the invocation of Santa Luzia".[5]

By royal charter, from King Manuel I Feteiras was integrated into the municipality of Ponta Delgada.[5] From this point, Father Lopes da Luz, concluded that the parish of Santa Luzia das Feteiras, existed by then end of the 15th century.[5] Ironically, though, the parish church was dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and was the seat, since the original church to Santa Luzia was in ruin by the end of the 16th century.[5]

By the beginning of the 19th centuyr, the estimated population of 860 people of the parish, was supported by the remodelled and expanded church of Nossa Senhora da Guadalupe, which was rechristened to Santa Luzia.[5] The older image from the abandoned church was quickly transported to the new church, and placed in one of the altars. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population had surpassed 1000 residents.[5]

Geography

Situated in the southern coast of the island, the parish is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) and located between the civil parishes of Relva and Ponta Delgada.[5]

Culture

Festivities in celebrating the Santissmo Sacramento are celebrated on the first Sunday of September, while religious celebrations marking the patron saint occur in December, in addition to annual Holy Spirit rituals throughout the summer.[5]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ INE, ed. (2010), Censos 2011 - Resultadas Preliminares [2011 Census - Preliminary Results] (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto Nacional de Estatística, retrieved 1 January 2012
  2. ↑ IGP, ed. (2010), Carta Administrativa Oficial de Portugal (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto Geográfico Português, retrieved 1 July 2011
  3. ↑ Instituto Nacional de Estatística
  4. ↑ Eurostat
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 DRAC (2010), p.24
Sources