Terreiro da Luta is located north of

Monte (Funchal) Monte ( en, Mount) is a civil parish in the municipality and a suburb of Funchal in the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira. Locally, the parish is also known as ''Nossa Senhora do Monte'' ( en, Our Lady of the Mount). The population in 2011 was 6,7 ...

and the area was once the last stop on the only cog railway (

Monte Railway The Monte Railway ( pt, Caminho de Ferro do Monte) (commonly known as the Monte train or Monte Lift) was a rack railway connecting Pombal, in Funchal, to Terreiro da Luta in Monte (Madeira, Portugal), a distance of 3,911 metres. It was built in ...

) in

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 ...

. It is also where the Our Lady of Peace sanctuary ( pt, Nossa Senhora da Paz) is located.

History

Between 1893 and 1943, the area was connected to Funchal by Madeira's only

cog railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack and pinion, rack rail, usually between the running Track (rail transport)#Rail, rails. The trains are fitted with one or ...

. The Our Lady of Peace sanctuary ( pt, Nossa Senhora da Paz) statue which is supported by 4 Roman columns, is located here. It was built after the attacks on Madeira during world war 1, which were first felt in Madeira on December 3, 1916, when the

German U-boat U-boats were Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the World War I, First and Second World War, Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were ...

, , captained by

Max Valentiner Captain Christian August Max Ahlmann Valentiner (15 December 1883 – 19 July 1949) was a German U-boat commander during World War I. He was the third highest-scoring U-boat commander of the war, and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his achievem ...

went into the Port of Funchal in Madeira and torpedoed and sank 3 ships, CS ''Dacia'' (1,856 tons), (2,493 tons) and ''Surprise'' (680 tons). The commander of the French

Gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

Surprise and 34 of her crew (7 Portuguese) died in the attack. The Dacia, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

cable laying vessel, had previously undertaken war work off the coast of

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

and

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, was in the process of diverting the South American cable into Brest, France. Following the attack on the ships, the Germans proceeded to bombard Funchal for two hours from a range of about . Batteries on Madeira returned fire and eventually forced the Germans to withdraw. In 1917 on December 12, two German U-boats, and (captained by

) again bombarded Funchal, Madeira. This time the attack lasted around 30 minutes. Forty, 4.7 inch and 5.9 inch shells were fired. There were 3 fatalities and 17 wounded, In addition, a number of houses and Santa Clara church were hit. A priest José Marques Jardim, promised in 1917 to build a monument should peace ever return to Madeira. In 1927 at Terreiro da Luta he built a statue of Nossa Senhora da Paz (Our Lady of Peace) commemorating the end of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It incorporates the anchor chains from the sunken ships from Madeira on December 3, 1916, and is over 5 metres tall.

References

{{reflist Sculptures in Portugal Geography of Madeira Tourist attractions in Madeira Monuments and memorials in Portugal World War I memorials in Portugal