Santana (Informações em Inglês)

Geographical Location

Covering an area of 96.20 square kilometers, the municipality of Santana is located on the north coast of the island of Madeira. It is bordered by the municipalities of São Vicente (west), Machico (east), Santa Cruz (south), Funchal (south) and Câmara de Lobos (southwest) and washed north and northeast by the Atlantic Ocean.

Relief

The municipality of Santana presents a rugged relief, dominated by the greatness of the mountains, deep valleys and mighty water streams flowing down the slopes. In Santana are located the highest peaks of the island, namely Pico Ruivo (1.862 m), Pico das Torres (1.851 m) and Pico do Areeiro (1.818 m).

Population

According to the latest 2001 census, the municipality of Santana totaled 8.804 residents, distributed as follows by its six parishes: Arco de São Jorge (509), Faial (1.961), Ilha (358), Santana (3.439), Sao Jorge (1.610) and São Roque do Faial (927).

Toponymy

The municipality owes its name to the primitive chapel dedicated to Santa’ Ana. The date of its construction is unknown, although there are records of the restoration works it was subjected to until being demolished in the late 17th century, a date that also marks the beginning of the construction of the present church.

History

Santana was elevated to parish in the second half of the 16th century. In 1832, Santana was elevated to village and in 1835 to administrative centre. The village of Santana was elevated to city in 2000 by regional decree 14/2000/M of 6 July.
Similarly to the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos, Santa Cruz and Porto Moniz, the municipality of Santana was suppressed by a decree dated 10 December 1867, which, however, was not completely enforced, these municipalities being re-established shortly after.
Initially, the municipality was formed by the parishes of Santana, São Jorge, Arco de São Jorge, Faial, São Roque do Faial and Porto da Cruz. However, in 1852, Porto da Cruz was separated from the municipality of Santana integrated the municipality of Machico.
On 15 April 1989, the municipality of Santana totaled six parishes, after the location of Ilha, which belonged to the parish of São Jorge, being elevated to parish by regional legislative decree 11/89/M.
The municipality of Santana remained inaccessible both by land and by sea for many years. This isolation helped preserve singular local characteristics from exterior influence, as for example the architectural style of the typical thatched houses.
Since early times, agriculture has been the basis of Santana’s sustenance. Formerly, it registered an abundant production of wheat, corn, sugar cane and grapes, besides cattle breeding.
At present, the tourist sector is a rising economic resource, profiting from a rich natural and built heritage that charms visitors. Additionally, public and private entities have invested in the creation of tourist support facilities, mostly restaurants and hotels.

Churches, Monuments and Museums

Santana holds attractions that are part of its heritage and dignify the municipality. It equally offers excellent facilities for learning the history, as well as the costums and traditions of the municipality and of the archipelago.

Parish Church of São Jorge – Erected in the third quarter of the 18th century in the parish of São Jorge, this is considered one of the beautiful churches of Madeira. Characterized by a monumental appearance, this Baroque temple stands out for the wonderfully executed gilded woodcarving of the main altar. The small image of the martyr Saint Sebastian is a wonderful piece of sculpture deserving quiet contemplation.
In the vestry, a special note goes to the wooden table and the Madeira laurel and Madeira mahogany cupboards, with rococo carved columns and to a magnificent Cross, in which the body of Chris measures one meter.

Chapel of São Pedro – Located near the São Jorge parish church, this chapel was restored in 1901. Its interior houses an ornate altar of late Baroque.

Chapel of Santo António – Erected in the location with the same name, in the parish of Santana, this temple dates back to the 16th century, and was one of the first to be built in the municipality.

Santana’s Typical Thatched House – These houses are the symbol of the municipality and one of the symbols of Madeira, known in the four corners of the world. Architecturally, Santana´s typical house is rectangular and is covered by a thatched roof, shaped like an inverted V, the thatch reaching the ground. These houses normally have two floors; a ground floor and an attic.

São Jorge’s Typical House – The typical houses of São Jorge are square, with four-sided thatched roofs, commonly known as round houses. Good examples of these traditional houses can be found in the location of Ribeira Funda, in the parish of São Jorge.

Madeira Theme Park – This seven-hectare park is a compulsory stop for visitors of all ages and an opportunity for embarking on a journey of discovery of the archipelago of Madeira, its history, and the culture and tradition of the Madeiran people. For this effect, this park is organized into pavilions and other attractions, in which varied aspects of the Autonomous Region of Madeira are represented.
In the Discovering the islands pavilion, the visitor relives the boat journey that discovered the islands, a journey animated by theatrical sceneries, projections, light and sound effects. In a second pavilion called A world of islands, islands in the world, history and culture are taught through illustrated panels, photographs, maps, maquettes, replicas, theatrical sceneries and video. This pavilion is organized into seven main topics: The origin of life, the discovery, Man and nature, Sugar, wine, Tourism and Madeira today.
In the Fantastic trip in Madeira pavilion, visitors accompany the adventures of a couple on honeymoons in Madeira, with the help of a simulator, in a thrilling journey into the magnificent landscapes of Madeira and Porto Santo.
Outdoor spaces offer other attractions, namely a replica of the Monte train, the traditional bullock cart, the hammocks, the Santana typical thatched house, a mill, a labyrinth and a big lagoon, where visitors can hire boats. There is also an ample garden, where many species of Madeira’s endemic flora are to be found.
Located in Estrada Regional, 101, Fonte da Pedra, Santana, the Madeira Theme Park is open all year round, except on Christmas Day, from 10 am to 7 pm.

Wine Museum – Installed in the Arco de São Jorge Viticulture Experimental Centre, this museum displays a permanent exhibition representing the history of wine. The viticulture instruments on exhibition transport us to the past. Each utensil tells the stories of the people who knew how to profit from their environment.
In an adjacent tasting room you may purchase wines, especially Madeira Wine. Gardens filled with flowers, shrubs, Laurissilva trees and leisure facilities complete the tour of this museum, in which the visitor may admire Madeira’s natural diversity and heritage.
The Wine Museum may be visited from Tuesday to Saturday, from 2 to 5.30 pm and on Monday morning subject to booking.

Gastronomy

The municipality of Santana, considered one of the best in terms of regional gastronomy, presents delicious dishes prepared with refinement and dedication. For starters, we recommend cottage cheese, or cured sheep cheese, both types of local production, besides Santana bread or corn bread, bolo do caco with garlic butter and fine herbs or grilled limpets with butter and lemon juice, followed by wheat soup, a romaria broth or chicken soup. For the second course, a wide choice is available. If you prefer fish, we suggest grilled trout à la Ribeiro Frio, Tuna à la São João, fried parrot-fish, vinaigrette octopus and fish stew. However, if you prefer meat you may opt for one of the following; sirloin Steak à la Caldeirão Verde, wine and garlic pork, country chicken stew, lamb stew, regional espetada in a laurel skewer or sarapatel. There are many accompaniments for these delicious fish and meat dishes, namely fried cornmeal, shriveled sweet-potatoes, corn on the cob, vegetables of the season and baked potatoes. For drinking, they suggest the white or red table wines produced on the island and classed as VQPRD (Quality Wine Produced in Determined Regions). For dessert, there is a wide range of choice, which will surely please the more sweet-toothed, namely molasses cake, São Jorge marble cake, bridal cake, black cake, blueberry jam, passion fruit pudding, pumpkin pudding and fruit of the season. To end your meal in style, try one of the regional liqueurs or have an espresso and sugar cane rum.

Events

48 Hours Dancing/ Regional Folklore Festival/ Fair of the Municipality
This event gathers all of the folk dance groups of the region’s municipalities together with other invited groups. Held on the first fortnight of the month of July, this is the main live expression of the folklore of Madeira and Porto Santo. It is also an excellent opportunity to show gastronomic specialities and different cultural and traditional aspects of the municipality. Consequently, there are food and drink stalls where animation rules.

Places of Main Tourist Interest

It is true to say that in terms of landscape, Santana is one of the prettiest in the archipelago of Madeira. Here, true living pictures show nature in its purest state. High peaks, rocky formations, streams, waterfalls and other natural attractions transform this municipality into an authentic paradise.
Natural Reserve of Sítio da Rocha do Navio – This reserve was created in 1997, by suggestion of the local population, in face of the rapid deterioration of the coast. This natural reserve includes a stretch of sea, the potential habitat of the monk seal (Monachus monachus), as well as an islet, where there are rare plants typical of Macaronesian sea cliffs.
By the sea, an extensive fajã (fajãs are stretches of flat land caused by the collapse of sea cliffs) is used for growing vine and tropical fruits. This location is a paradise of extreme beauty that leaves no one indifferent. A cable car enables the descent to Rocha do Navio. This means of transportation plays a major role in agriculture and tourism, besides allowing the guards of the Natural Reserve to access the house at the bottom.
Quinta do Furão – Located in Achada do Gramacho, this charming 5-hectare estate comprises biological agricultural fields cultivated with horticultural products and vines, representing the different varieties typically used for Madeira Wine production. Additionally, the gardens testify to the exuberant Madeiran flora by sheltering unique specimens.
Rose Gardens of Quinta do Arco – Located in the parish of Arco de São Jorge, in the location of Lagoa, this garden gathers one of the largest rose collections of Portugal, including rare and endangered species. Comprising over 1.000 different species, this magnificent collection is composed of old and contemporary roses, climbing and not climbing. The rarest and most important species are fully identified by name and class. This wonderful world of roses may be visited everyday from 11 am to 18 pm.
Queimadas Forestry Park – Located 5 kilometres from Santana, this park is an excellent location for a picnic and a starting point for several walks. It is regarded as one of the most pleasant leisure areas of Madeira.
To reach the Queimadas Forestry Park go west in Santana until you reach a turning which quickly transforms into a rough road uphill. The road leads you through bundles of gorse, hydrangea and wild flowers into the core of a luxuriant forest and to the Queimadas Forestry house, an enormous thatched house used by rangers.
From the Queimadas Forestry Park we may set out on spectacular walks to the Caldeirão Verde and the Caldeirão do Inferno. The first is a majestic waterfall forming a lake and Caldeirão do Inferno, in turn, is a canyon, formed by the waters along a line of softer rock.
Pico das Pedras Forestry Park – This is an ideal spot for picnics and the traditional espetadas., where visitors may admire endemic species, mainly birds, which find their habitat here, both in captivity or in the wild. The park accesses a footpath to Pico Ruivo, the highest altitude on the island.
Ribeiro Frio Forestry Park – Integrant part of the parish of São Roque do Faial, this park boasts beautiful gardens, where flora and forest coexist harmoniously and where some vegetal endemisms of rare occurrence are to be found.
Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum) hatcheries with the pure cold waters of Ribeiro Frio raise this fish species to be used almost exclusively for the repopulation of Madeiran streams and for culinary purposes.
This park offers great possibilities for walks, namely the track from Ribeiro Frio to Balcões. Along this footpath visitors will be faced by magnificent sceneries of varied Laurissilva Forest endemic species, an example of which is the imposing view of the deep valley of Ribeira do Faial and the rocky amphitheatre of the Central Massif, in which Pico Ruivo is visible. The Bacões Viewpoint has a wonderful view of the central ridge of the island, the sublime valleys of Fajã da Nogueira and Ribeira da Metade, as well as Penha de Águia.
Penha de Águia – Set between the parishes of Faial (Santana) and Porto da Cruz ( Machico), the Penha de Águia is a giant rocky massif 580-metre high. It is very often represented in books about Madeira and is a brand image of the region in many postcards.
The top of the Penha de Águia can be reached through the locations of Penha de Águia or Sítio da Cruz. At the top, the view is surprising and breathtaking, adding to the interesting nucleus of indigenous exotic plants to be found there.

Achada do Teixeira – Located near Santana, this plateau spreads at an altitude of 1.592 metres. In Achada do Teixeira, there are several elements of geological interest, namely the Homem-em-pé (Standing man), formed by blocks of basalt rock balanced on top of each other, and the Cara ( Face).
Both rock formations were carved by the erosion forces of nature in the course of thousands of years. Visitors will also find century-old heath ( Erica arborea) and the Madeiran Berthlot`s Pipit( Anthus berthelotti Madeirensis), a bird that camouflages with the colours of dried weed.

Places of Main Tourist Interest

It is true to say that in terms of landscape, Santana is one of the prettiest in the archipelago of Madeira. Here, true living pictures show nature in its purest state. High peaks, rocky formations, streams, waterfalls and other natural attractions transform this municipality into an authentic paradise.

Natural Reserve of Sítio da Rocha do Navio – This reserve was created in 1997, by suggestion of the local population, in face of the rapid deterioration of the coast. This natural reserve includes a stretch of sea, the potential habitat of the monk seal (Monachus monachus), as well as an islet, where there are rare plants typical of Macaronesian sea cliffs.
By the sea, an extensive fajã (fajãs are stretches of flat land caused by the collapse of sea cliffs) is used for growing vine and tropical fruits. This location is a paradise of extreme beauty that leaves no one indifferent. A cable car enables the descent to Rocha do Navio. This means of transportation plays a major role in agriculture and tourism, besides allowing the guards of the Natural Reserve to access the house at the bottom.

Quinta do Furão – Located in Achada do Gramacho, this charming 5-hectare estate comprises biological agricultural fields cultivated with horticultural products and vines, representing the different varieties typically used for Madeira Wine production. Additionally, the gardens testify to the exuberant Madeiran flora by sheltering unique specimens.

Rose Gardens of Quinta do Arco – Located in the parish of Arco de São Jorge, in the location of Lagoa, this garden gathers one of the largest rose collections of Portugal, including rare and endangered species. Comprising over 1.000 different species, this magnificent collection is composed of old and contemporary roses, climbing and not climbing. The rarest and most important species are fully identified by name and class. This wonderful world of roses may be visited everyday from 11 am to 18 pm.

Queimadas Forestry Park – Located 5 kilometres from Santana, this park is an excellent location for a picnic and a starting point for several walks. It is regarded as one of the most pleasant leisure areas of Madeira.
To reach the Queimadas Forestry Park go west in Santana until you reach a turning which quickly transforms into a rough road uphill. The road leads you through bundles of gorse, hydrangea and wild flowers into the core of a luxuriant forest and to the Queimadas Forestry house, an enormous thatched house used by rangers.
From the Queimadas Forestry Park we may set out on spectacular walks to the Caldeirão Verde and the Caldeirão do Inferno. The first is a majestic waterfall forming a lake and Caldeirão do Inferno, in turn, is a canyon, formed by the waters along a line of softer rock.

Pico das Pedras Forestry Park – This is an ideal spot for picnics and the traditional espetadas., where visitors may admire endemic species, mainly birds, which find their habitat here, both in captivity or in the wild. The park accesses a footpath to Pico Ruivo, the highest altitude on the island.

Ribeiro Frio Forestry Park – Integrant part of the parish of São Roque do Faial, this park boasts beautiful gardens, where flora and forest coexist harmoniously and where some vegetal endemisms of rare occurrence are to be found.
Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum) hatcheries with the pure cold waters of Ribeiro Frio raise this fish species to be used almost exclusively for the repopulation of Madeiran streams and for culinary purposes.
This park offers great possibilities for walks, namely the track from Ribeiro Frio to Balcões. Along this footpath visitors will be faced by magnificent sceneries of varied Laurissilva Forest endemic species, an example of which is the imposing view of the deep valley of Ribeira do Faial and the rocky amphitheatre of the Central Massif, in which Pico Ruivo is visible. The Bacões Viewpoint has a wonderful view of the central ridge of the island, the sublime valleys of Fajã da Nogueira and Ribeira da Metade, as well as Penha de Águia.

Penha de Águia – Set between the parishes of Faial (Santana) and Porto da Cruz ( Machico), the Penha de Águia is a giant rocky massif 580-metre high. It is very often represented in books about Madeira and is a brand image of the region in many postcards.
The top of the Penha de Águia can be reached through the locations of Penha de Águia or Sítio da Cruz. At the top, the view is surprising and breathtaking, adding to the interesting nucleus of indigenous exotic plants to be found there.

Achada do Teixeira – Located near Santana, this plateau spreads at an altitude of 1.592 metres. In Achada do Teixeira, there are several elements of geological interest, namely the Homem-em-pé (Standing man), formed by blocks of basalt rock balanced on top of each other, and the Cara ( Face).
Both rock formations were carved by the erosion forces of nature in the course of thousands of years. Visitors will also find century-old heath ( Erica arborea) and the Madeiran Berthlot`s Pipit( Anthus berthelotti Madeirensis), a bird that camouflages with the colours of dried weed.

Sítio da Achada do Marques – This location in the parish of Ilha is a bucolic tableau filled with typical thatched huts, suggesting a return to the past. Achada do Marques is part of the Natural Park of Madeira and is classed as Protected Landscape.

Lamellar Basalt – Located in the parish of São Jorge, in the location of Calhau da Ribeira de São Jorge, these basalt formations of great geological beauty embellish the banks of the short footpath leading to the former municipal road from Foz da Ribeira to Cais da Ponta Gorda.

Mouth of Ribeira do Faial – Here is located one of the most impressive and complex rock formations of the island, characterized by a compact and perfectly aligned columnar basalt disjunction, suggesting human intervention, such is the fineness and detail of the columns.

Viewpoint of the Faial Fort – From this fort, there is a magnificent panoramic view over the parish of Faial, Penha de Àguia and the north of São Lourenço. This fort is located in Pico Guindaste, and owns some artillery pieces.

Cabanas Viewpoint – Set between the parishes of São Jorge and Arco de São Jorge, this viewpoint offers beautiful sights of Arco de São Jorge and, on cloudless days, of the neighboring island of Porto Santo.