civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
. The population in 2011 was 489, in an area of 12.55 km².Eurostat Situated along the southeast coast, it is the smallest and most eastern parish in the municipality.
History
The early settlement of Água Retorta, which had its origin with the settlement of
Faial da Terra
Faial da Terra is a civil parish in the municipality of Povoação on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 359, in an area of 11.38 km².Povoação. Água Retorta became important due to the abundance of farms that existed in this territory. The place name, as Gaspar Frutuoso wrote, was inspired by a ravine "that twisted and turned", that by the 16th century developed into a land of many farms. His description in ''Saudades da Terra'': "From here progresses the lands of Nordeste, all in land of high cliffs, where two lengths below is the beach, called Água Retorta, because
he water
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
twists and turns". Paraphrasing Gaspar Frutuoso, Urbano de Mendonça Dias affirmed that the name was derived from the twists the ravine made, as it descended to rocks in the sea.
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...
Agostinho Montalverne identified the parish as falling within the jurisdiction of the local authority of Faial da Terra, and clergy of the ecumenical parish of Nossa Senhora da Graça. At that time, its vicar indicated the existence of 103 homes in the village, a population of 74, as well as a small hermitage dedicated to ''Nossa Senhora da Penha de França''. This hermitage was founded by Pedro Barbosa da Silva, and constructed in 1871. In addition to this chapel, there existed another temple to the invocation of ''Nossa Senhora das Mercês'', situated in Fajã do Calhau, on land that pertained to D. Ermelinda Pacheco Gago da Câmara, but which was destroyed during a storm in 1875.
Even by the 17th century, the citizenry of Água Retorta were ambitious to become an independent ecclesiastical parish, a fact that occurred by the end of that decade.
There is another location, Labaçal, important in the history of Água Retorta. It is situated within the vicinity of the parish, an area of approximately 500
alqueire ''Alqueire'' is a traditional unit of measurement in Portuguese. The term has been documented in Portugal since the 12th century. It is derived from the Arabic word أَكْيَال ''(al-kayl)'', which roughly means 'measure'. It was originally us ...
s of thicket, above sea level.
On 3 July 1839, an official law 161 (dated 10 July 1839), decreed by Queen
Maria II
, image = Queen Maria II by John Simpson.jpg
, caption = Portrait by John Simpson, 1835
, succession = Queen of Portugal
, reign =
, predecessor = Pedro IV
, successor = Miguel I
, reg-type = Regents
, regent ...
, elevated the Água Retorta to a civil parish, as well as the smaller hamlets Terra Chã, Lomba das Fagundas and Fajã do Calhau.
Geography
Água Retorta is located along the southeast corner of the island of São Miguel, within the municipality of Povoação, east of the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo, west of Nordeste, and south of
Ribeira Grande Ribeira Grande may refer to the following places:
Cape Verde
*Ribeira Grande (stream), a stream on the island of Santo Antão
*Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde, a town on the island of Santo Antão
*Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde (municipality), a municipali ...
. The community is connected by the Regional E.R.1-1ª Roadway directly to town of Nordeste and Faial da Terra, and through the mountains and valleys to the regional center of Ponta Delgada (some away).
It consists of several smaller localities, along with the main village of Água Retorta: Terra Chã, Lomba das Fagundas and Fajã do Calhau.
After a certain time, the population of the parish began to emigrate to America, in search of better conditions. From the 1960 census, there were 1253 residents in the parish. Between 1960 and 1970 the population had decreased by 35%, the highest decrease in population on the island during that period. By 1981, there were 617 inhabitants (of which 183 families) residing in 378 homes, within the parish. By 2001, the parish counted 497 residents.
Architecture
Civic
* Musical Society of Nossa Senhora da Penha da França ( pt, Sede da Sociedade Musical de Nossa Senhora da Penha da França), founded on 20 May 1947, by Duarte Raposo do Couto Resendes, Luís Pereira and José Raposo Carreiro, as a centre for musical study and recreation; its headquarters was constructed in 1962.
Religious
There are four ''teatros'' or ''impérios'' dedicated to the
Cult of the Holy Spirit
The Cult of the Holy Spirit ( pt, Culto do Divino Espírito Santo), also known as the Cult of the Empire of the Holy Spirit (''Culto do Império do Divino Espírito Santo''), is a religious sub-culture, inspired by Christian millenarian mystics, ...
within the parish: three in Terra Chã and another in Lomba das Fagundas. The population continues to maintain the faithful tradition and devotion, with their annual feasts.
* Church of Nossa Senhora da Penha de França ( pt, Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Penha de França), constructed between 1871 and 1885, with the belltower an example of the original hermitage erected by Captain Pedro Barbosa da Silva, in the 17th century. The church is constructed of basalt and masonry, painted in white, with sculpted stone around the doorways, windows and belfry, in the Mannerist style typical of other Micalense churches.