Madalena do Mar is a civil parish in the municipality of

Ponta do Sol Ponta do Sol (; en, "Cape of the Sun") is a municipality in the southwestern coast of the island of Madeira, in the archipelago of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 8,862, in an area of . History The settlement of Ponta do Sol began shortly af ...

in the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

archipelago of

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. The population in 2011 was 516, in an area of 2.07 km².Eurostat

History

By conjecture, the primitive community was referred to as ''Madalena'' or ''Santa Maria Madalena'', and received its suffix from its location along the sea, in order to distinguish it from the parish and chapel of Santa Maria Madalena, in the parish of Porto Moniz (which was the centre of pilgrimages). Even today, the area is still referred to as ''Madalena'' by many of the locals. The parish had its origin in a small farm and houses, including chapel (whose patron was Santa Maria Madalena, but yet invoked to the name of Santa Catarina. From this origin, many noblemen concentrated into the area, as noted in ''Saudades da Terra'' by

Gaspar Frutuoso Gaspar Frutuoso (c.1522 in Ponta Delgada – 1591 in Ribeira Grande) was a Portuguese priest, historian and humanist from the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. His major contribution to Portuguese history was hi ...

: :''"…Henrique Allemão, legendary person of the primitive times of colonization of this island of Madeira. Of him they said he was a Polish prince and that, having lost in 1444 a battle in Varna to

Władysław III of Poland Władysław III (31 October 1424 – 10 November 1444), also known as Ladislaus of Varna, was King of Poland and the Supreme Duke (''Supremus Dux'') of Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1434 as well as King of Hungary and Croatia from 1440 until h ...

against Amurato II, he made a vow to travel the land as a knight onboard the carrack ''

Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai ''Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai'' was a higher-castled Portuguese carrack with 140 cannons, launched down in 1520 (800 t, length 38 m, width 13 m, draft 4–4.5 m). Built in Kochi, India around 1512 it had two square rig masts and is depicted on ...

''. Arriving on the island of Madeira, João Gonçalo Zarco gave him the area that was later called Madalena do Mar, a large unseeded plot of land, which was later confirmed by Infante Henrique on 29 April 1457, and by Afonso V on the 18 May of the same year. With effect, Henrique Allemão there founded a large populated farm, with chapel to the invocation of Santa Maria Madalena, which resulted in the locality's name. He married the Lady Annes, and died disastrously when he was crushed when rocks falling from Cabo Girão fell on his boat, as he returned from the city of Funchal to Madalena. His wife later married João Rodrigues de Freitas. Still now there is, above the village of Ponta do Sol, a ''Fajã do Allemão'', that the people corruptly cultivate lemon."''

Geography

This parish on the south-west coast of Madeira in the shadow of

Canhas Canhas is a civil parish in the municipality of Ponta do Sol in the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circl ...

, and buttressed by the civil parish of

Arco da Calheta Arco da Calheta is a civil parish in the municipality of Calheta in the Portuguese island of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 3,168, in an area of 14.70 km².Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Economy

The primary activity in the community is the cultivation of bananas, with much of the land along the cliff faces occupied by terraced fields with rows of banana trees. Madalena do Mar is a parish with a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

References

;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Madalena Do Mar Freguesias of Ponta do Sol, Madeira