Perfect island destination for: lovers of sun, beach, and unusual beauty.
Overall, the Azores islands are known for, among other things, the one-of-a-kind beauty of its black sand beaches and luscious green hills. In an archipelago that is already offbeat enough, Santa Maria Island is the most offbeat of them all — the most Southern of the nine islands (and the oldest of all of them, geologically speaking, at 8.12 million years old), with a drier climate (compared to the rest), and, just to be wonderfully off-key, with white sand beaches and its unique “red desert”.
Santa Maria is known as the “mother island”. It was the first Portuguese settlement in the archipelago, after its discovery circa 1432, and inhabited mostly by Southerners (farmers from Algarve and Alentejo). This legacy lives on in the small details of the local architecture, like the long and narrow chimneys, and the Alentejo-style painted house facades (white, with colored borders).
Historical records show that Christopher Columbus, on his way back from the “Americas” in 1493, stayed on the island. He prayed at the Chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Anjos (Our Lady of Angels), the first Catholic temple built in the archipelago.
bom dia, gostei de ler =)
santa maria is an awesome place to visit once in your life the pictures says about it, thanks for your travel tip.
I love your selection for Sao Miguel! And the pictures are great! I edited a list of 6 things to do in Sao Miguel…I hope you like it! 🙂
The Azores has wonderful things to do. Hard to narrow it down 🙂