Where in the world will you find the 15th-century UNESCO World Heritage city, Angra do Heroismo? It's on the mid-Atlantic Azorean island of Terceira. You can admire the architecture of its many churches, palaces and buildings from an outlook on the extinct volcano, Monte Brasil, and by strolling along its black and white mosaic sidewalks.
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| Ornate top of Holy Spirit House (império) in San Sebastian, Terceira, Azores. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Terceira's 68 impérios or Holy Spirit Houses are even more fascinating. Colourful and ornate, with wrought iron balconies and a silver crown or white dove on top, they are centres of festivities for eight Sundays after Easter. "Many Azoreans, who have moved away, come back for the festival," explained our guide, José Pires Borges.
Azores traditions and foods
As we dined on shrimp soup, served in bread bowls, and grilled black grouper at Angra's Restaurante Beira Mar, he described the processions and feasts. "In thanks for favours granted by the Holy Spirit, people give alms to the poor, say prayers in their homes and host large feasts. If you look inside an império, you'll see an altar bearing crowns worn by people who organize the events each week. An adjacent pantry building stores tables, dishes, wine and other items used for the community meal. Traditionally, people slaughter a bull and serve the beef, along with special soup, bread and cinnamon-flavoured rice pudding."
Terceira has lava vineyards, tunnels, swimming pools, buildings and mistérios, black lava fields, named by people who didn't understand volcanic phenomena. It took us 10 minutes to climb to the top of grass-covered Pico Gaspar, where we peered into a volcanic cone that collapsed in 1761.
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| Joao Henrique Melo Cota holds a 10 kg-wheel of cheddar-like island cheese, queijo da ilha, at Queijo Vaquinha, an artisanal cheese factory in Cinco Ribeiras, Terceira, Azores. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Black and white Holstein cows graze on electric green pastures, separated by lava rock fences. (Terceira has 40,000 cattle and 55,000 people.) Because the climate is mild year-round, there are no barns.
Farmers regularly move the cattle to fresh pastures. The practice explained why we kept seeing ceramic signs for canada. "It means cattle lane," said Borges.
Azores wine and cheese
Farmers milk cows with portable machines and convert the milk into delicious fresh cheese, and cheddar-like island cheese, queijo da ilha. At Queijo Vaquinha, an artisanal factory in Cinco Ribeiras, we watched João Henrique Melo Cota and his staff unmold and store hundreds of round yellow wheels on shelves.
What goes better with cheese than wine? At Biscoitos Wine Museum, named after a volcanic region of black lava, which resembles burnt biscuits, we sampled full-bodied white verdelho wines and examined ancient wine presses, barrels and tools.
Terceira provided verdelho to crews of Portuguese spice trading boats in the 16th century. Five hundred years later, the yachts filling the marina at Angra do Heroismo show that Terceira still a popular port of call today.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Portuguese Trade and Tourism Commission: www.visitportugal.com
SATA flights: www.sata.pt
More things to see and do in the Azores:
Pico, Azores - Whales, Wine, Underground Walks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Sao Miguel, Azores - Tea Plantations, Pineapples, Gardens and Volcano-Cooked Stew
Azores Island of Faial - Volcanoes, Scrimshaw & Sailors' Art