Capelas (; Portuguese for ''

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s'') is a

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 ...

along the northern coast of 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 ...

of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese

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 4,080, in an area of .Eurostat

History

The first settlements congregated around the port of ''Poços'', along the northern edge that divides Capelas from

São Vicente Ferreira São Vicente Ferreira is a civil parish in the municipality of Ponta Delgada in the Portuguese archipelago of Azores. The population in 2011 was 2,361, in an area of 11.42 km². Geography São Vicente Ferreira is located along the northern c ...

; its first settlers establishing shelters in and around the 16th Century.DRC (2010), p.16 With elevation of Capelas to (religious) parish it became integrated within the municipality of Ponta Delgada (on 11 July 1592). This administrative dependency lasted until it was elevated to status of ''vila'', as stipulated by the Carta de Lei (''Charter Law'') conferred by Queen D. Maria, on July 10, 1839. There exists a couple of versions for Capela's

toponymic Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a p ...

origin. Father Gaspar Frutuoso in ''Saudades das Terras'' notes the following: :''"Some say that they call it 'capelas', not because there existed in those parts churches or chapels, but that on the feast day of Saint John he Baptistsome men constructed there some mallchapels, forgetting them hung from a tree..."'' Likewise, the brothers Bullar, in an account in their journeys, referred to a likely reality: they refer to a general local reference to the rocks along the coast as ''capelas'', rocks taking on the appearance of small grottos and seeming to appear as chapels. Its main church, to the invocation of Nossa Senhora da Apresentação (''Our Lady of the Presentation'') was raised on the ruins of an older priory and concluded in 1780. Similarly, the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, built on the orders of Captain Agostinho de Medeiros Costa, in the 17th century, and reconstructed and expanded in 1830. Although Capelas may not have been named for the religious sanctuaries that were erected there, there are many to speak of, including the chapels of Anjo da Guarda, Santa Rita, Nossa Senhora do Rosário and Nossa Senhora de Santana, as well as many smaller hermitages to the invocation of the Holy Spirit. During the

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

era in the Azores (early to middle 20th Century), Capelas was an important northern processing center on the island of São Miguel; close to the public pools around ''Poços'' is the ruins of the mixed-use factory used to process whale oil and mill flour. In Calhau Miúdo there existed two factories (Companhia Nova and Companhia Velha) to process whale byproducts during this period.

Geography

Located along the northern coast, the parish has been connected to major centers by a series of roads linking the community to the city of Ponta Delgada (to the south), Mosteiros (to the west) and

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 ...

(to the east). Farmlands dominate the north and east portions of the parish, while the area from the E.R.1-1ª regional road towards the interior are dominated by mountains, river valleys and some ancient volcanic cones. The administrative extent of Capelas incorporates the ''localities'' ( pt, lugares) of Teatro Novo, Conceição and Poços. Capelas has two small ports, one of which (known as "Poços") played a crucial role during centuries when Capelas was an important

center.

Culture

Festivities

On the fourth Sunday of August, the community celebrates the feast day of the parishes patron, ''Our Lady of the Presentation''. Similar acts of faith are also expressed in the festivals of Corpo de Deus (''Body of Christ'') and Nossa Senhora de Lurdes (''Our Lady of Lourdes''). Apart from celebrating masses, a typical religious procession will wind through the roads in the parish, accompanied by the traditional philharmonic bands.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{authority control Parishes of Ponta Delgada