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Machico () is a municipality, parish and city in the southeast part of the island 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 ...
, in the Autonomous Region 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 easternmost municipality on the island, it is also the third-most populous area with a population of 21,828 in 2011. The town, proper, had a population of 10,894 in 2001.


History

In calm waters of early after, on 1 July 1419,
João Gonçalves Zarco João Gonçalves Zarco ( 1390 – 21 November 1471) was a Portuguese explorer who established settlements and recognition of the Madeira Islands, and was appointed first captain of Funchal by Henry the Navigator. Life Zarco was born in Portugal ...
and Tristão Vaz Teixeira disembarked on the beach of Machico, beginning the era of Portuguese discoveries. On the beach a
Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...
of thanksgiving was celebrated by Franciscan priests on the feast of the Visitation (2 June), an image of which accompanied the expedition. Many hypotheses have developed as to the origin of the name of the municipality. The most remembered, and not the least disputed, comes from the romanticized legend of the English lovers Robert Machim and Anne d'Arfet. As the legend explains, the two lovers escaped from England (where their love was forbidden and condemned by the Church), suffered the tragedy of a shipwreck and died on the island that became Madeira, where later the first Portuguese explorers encountered two crosses to which they attributed to the lovers: the name appears to be a corruption of the surname ''Machin''. On 8 May 1440, the
Infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...
Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...
awarded Tristão Vaz and his descendants the
Captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule a ...
of Machico (which included the Ponta da Oliveira, in Caniço, to the Ponta do São Lourenço and from there to the Ponta do Tristão, in Porto Moniz), and by right the first Captaincy in the archipelago of Madeira. The first settlers eked out a meagre subsistence, as a Franciscan friar noted: Still in the 15th century, taking advantage of the abundant water and excellent climate, the first colonists began to cultivate sugar cane, and the first machinery used to process the pulp appeared immediately, facilitating the export to Europe. Although the Captaincy did not have the best lands to cultivate the plant (by 1494 one-fifth of regional production), the village that developed at Machico's beachhead was the centre of the processing of this spice. As the monk Jerónimo Dias Leite indicated: ''"...the first sugar sold on this island of Madeira was in the town of Machico where there began a make and collect three arrobas pounds.html" ;"title="Pound_(mass).html" ;"title="quivalent to 96 Pound (mass)">pounds">Pound_(mass).html" ;"title="quivalent to 96 Pound (mass)">poundsto sell, each arroba [32 pounds] sold for five cruzeiros [historical coinage of Portugal]..."''. Machico grew to this lucrative commerce, while Machiquenses families become socially powerful and wealthy from the trade, including the families of the Captains- Donatários (Tristão Vaz's descendants). It was the Teixeira family that erected the first Matriz Church in Machico at the end of the 15th century, in honour of ''Nossa Senhora da Conceição'' (''Our Lady of Conception''). During the second half of the 15th century, along with Funchal, Machico was elevated to ''town'' (1451) and continued to grow, following the course of the ravine into the valley. Two poles developed: the right margin, that included the main barrio and the town's public institutions (municipal chamber, customshouse and church), and the left margin, that included nucleus of Banda d'Além, the Misericórdia (social centre) and Chapel of Christ, now known as the Chapel of ''Nosso Senhor dos Milagres'' (''Our Lord of Miracles''). In 1803, a landslide was responsible for the destruction of various homes, destroying hedges and walls, the main bridge along the ravine and the Chapel of ''Nosso Senhor dos Milagres''. Machico also became a front-line during the ''Revolta da Madeira'' (''Madeira Revolt'') in April 1931.


Geography


Physical geography

Machico is located 17 km northeast of Funchal, northwest of the uninhabitable
Savage Islands The Savage Islands or Selvagens Islands ( pt, Ilhas Selvagens ; also known as the Salvage Islands) are a small Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Madeira, and north of the Canary Islands.30,000), white-faced storm- ...
, 20 km southeast of Santana and west-southwest of
Porto Santo Porto Santo Island () is a Portuguese island northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean; it is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe and Africa. The mun ...
in the extreme eastern portion of the island of Madeira. It is linked by road from Funchal (the regional capital), to the Santana and the villages of Ribeira Seca and
Caniçal Caniçal () is a civil parish in the municipality of Machico in the Portuguese island of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 3,924, in an area of 11.85 km2. Equidistant from Funchal and Santana (20 km), the community is connected to thes ...
. To the existence of mountains on the western coast, it is sandwiched along the coast from the rest of the islands' settlements, while forests lie towards the interior and grasslands cover the north-eastern corner of the municipality. Geomorphologically, the municipality is dominated by steeped and inclined topography, except in the Machico valley (where slopes are gentle), formed by two mountain ranges: in the east Pico do Facho and to the west the Queimada plateau. Examples of these differences include the area south of Porto da Cruz (in the watershed of Ribeira do Juncal) and in Caniçal (in the Ribeira da Palmeira watershed). Due to its location and morphological characteristics, the climate of Madeira is complex, whose difference from place to place is accentuated, even in areas relatively close. Machico temperatures are relatively moderate throughout the year, with variation relatively low (only accentuated between elevations).


Human geography

Administratively, the municipality is governed from its seat in the city of Machico, but five local ''juntas de freguesia'' (''civil parish government'') handle issues in the communities of: *
Água de Pena Água de Pena is a civil parish in the municipality of Machico on the south-east coast of the Portuguese island of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 2,434, in an area of 5.15 km². History The area of Água de Pena was first sighted by the ...
– supposedly the area explored by João Gonçalos Zarco and his crew after anchoring in Madeira, Pena is the smallest parish in the municipality, and developed from various reconfigurations of the border between Machico and Santa Cruz, today its population includes 1700 inhabitants (2001 census); *
Caniçal Caniçal () is a civil parish in the municipality of Machico in the Portuguese island of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 3,924, in an area of 11.85 km2. Equidistant from Funchal and Santana (20 km), the community is connected to thes ...
– an important fishing community of 3893 inhabitants (2001), the parish of Caniçal (which means ''area of many fishing lines/rods'') extends into the eastern coast of Madeira island to the tip of the cliffs of the promontory/escarpment of
Ponta de São Lourenço Ponta de São Lourenço (Portuguese for the "Point of Saint Lawrence") is the easternmost point of the island of Madeira. It is inside the town of Caniçal and forms a part of the municipality of Machico. Its terrain are made up of rocks and h ...
; * Machico – historical village, it is the largest parish in terms of population and concentrated residents, with a population of 11,977 (2006 Estimate); * Porto da Cruz – largest parish in area and the smallest parish in density (2793 inhabitants), whose name was derived from the original discoverers, who fixed a steel cross by the harbour, so that travellers would be able to identify the location; * Santo António da Serra – considered the smallest parish in terms of population (1355 residents), it is also one of the few interior parishes on the island, created from the disharmony between the local authorities (which forced the local governor to divide the original parish between Machico and Santo Cruz). Machico has several primary schools, junior and senior secondary schools, banks, main post office and public square, along with public beaches.


Speleology

The
Furnas do Cavalum The Furnas do Cavalum (Caves of Cavalum in English) are a group of four caves located in Machico, Madeira. Named after a local legend about a demon called Cavalum, who was imprisoned in the cave. These lava tubes are of great importance allowing ...
are a group of four cavities located in Machico and named after a local legend about a demon called Cavalum, who was imprisoned in the cave. These lava tubes are of great importance allowing a view on the volcanic history of the now inactive island of Madeira, they have also biologic importance as there are several troglobiont living in the cave, including crustaceans, spiders and flies. At least fourteen invertebrates live in these tubes and at least three of them are endemic on Madeira island, one of them exists only in this cave. Furnas do Cavalum are also part of the cultural heritage of the islanders, as numerous legends are told about the caves. Despite the stories about the demon, the cave was used as a refuge by the locals, namely during violent uprises like the Revolta da Madeira in April 1931.


Climate

Machico has a very mild
mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
with small temperature differences between seasons. It is slightly cooler than
Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its hig ...
in all seasons, but is still very mild in winter and has stable and warm summers, where heat-waves are rare. There is a very low
diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...
with night-time lows above being common in summer. The summer is also delayed in so-called
seasonal lag Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum insolation (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the mini ...
. As a result, October is warmer than June in terms of daily mean temperature.


Economy

The economy is focused on agriculture, tourism, and fishing, although a small number of businesses and commercial establishments have concentrated in the centre of town. The main harbour is a mixture of personal and public uses, that includes a lighted promenade, scenic landscapes of the town, as well as a small harbour that is used as a fishing port and public harbour (usually filled with yachts).


Notable people

*
António Sebastião Spínola António Sebastião Spínola (Machico, Porto da Cruz, 13 July 1875 – Machico, Porto da Cruz, 19 March 1956) was an Inspector General of Finances and Chief of Cabinet of the Finance Minister Professor Oliveira Salazar and afterwards of Finance ...
(1875 in Porto da Cruz – 1956) an Inspector General of Finances for
Oliveira Salazar Oliveira may refer to: People * Oliveira (surname), which includes D'Oliveira * Oliveira (footballer, born 1981), full name Ederaldo Antonio de Oliveira, Brazilian football goalkeeper * Oliveira (footballer, born 1985), full name Bruno Giglio d ...
*
José Ornelas Carvalho José Ornelas Carvalho, SCJ (born 5 January 1954) is a Portuguese prelate of the Catholic Church who has been bishop of Leiria-Fátima since 2022. He was the bishop of Setúbal from 2015 to 2022. He was the Superior-General of the Congregation ...
(born 1954 in Porto da Cruz) a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church & current Bishop of Setúbal. * José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça (born 1965 in Machico) a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church & Cardinal of the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...
&
Vatican Apostolic Archive The Vatican Apostolic Archive ( la, Archivum Apostolicum Vaticanum; it, Archivio Apostolico Vaticano), formerly known as the Vatican Secret Archive, is the central repository in the Vatican City of all acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Po ...
* Miguel Fidalgo (born 1982 in Caniçal) a footballer with over 320 club caps * Nuno Viveiros (born 1983 in Machico) a former footballer with 376 club caps * Élio Martins (born 1985 in Machico) a footballer with over 300 club caps


References

{{authority control Cities in Portugal 15th-century establishments in Portugal Populated places established in the 1450s Municipalities of Madeira Madeira Island