Angra do Heroísmo: the historic centre and Monte Brasil: a self-guided walk

By Alleytale

A World Heritage town on foot, from a convent museum to the fortress on Monte Brasil

Angra's centre grew around its port, and each stop shows a side of that: a garden, a convent museum, a town hall, a hospital church, a cathedral and the fortress built to guard the harbour.

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The stops

1. 1Jardim Duque da Terceira

   This public garden is named for António José Severim de Noronha, 1st Duke of Terceira, to honour his part in the Liberal Wars. The municipality bought the site in 1864, and it was laid out on land that had been courtyards of the Jesuit College and the Convent of São Francisco. Its highest point, the Alto da Memória, is dedicated to Pedro IV and was built between 1845 and 1856 on the site of the old Castle of Windmills.

   

2. 2Museum of Angra do Heroísmo

   The museum was founded on 30 March 1949 and now fills the former Convent of Saint Francis, after years in Bettencourt Palace. The convent church, Nossa Senhora da Guia, was built between 1666 and 1672, and its walls are covered in 18th-century tile panels showing episodes from the life of Saint Francis. The 1 January 1980 earthquake seriously damaged the building, and the museum fully reopened in September 2000.

   

3. 3Town Hall and Praça Velha

   In 1474 the first organized municipal meeting took place in Angra, and the first Senate of Angra met on this site. The present building was begun in 1847 and its cornerstone was laid on 11 August 1849, timed to the 20th anniversary of the Battle of Praia; it was inaugurated on 11 August 1866. On its west side lies Praça Velha, a large square paved in geometric patterns of Portuguese stone.

   

4. 4Igreja da Misericórdia

   On 15 March 1492 João Vaz Corte-Real and other brothers of the Holy Spirit brotherhood drew up a charter for a hospital, beside the quay, for the poor and for people weakened by long sea voyages. In 1498 the brotherhood was absorbed into the Casa da Misericórdia, and the present church was begun on 21 October 1728 and consecrated on 4 June 1746. An altar inside venerates a sculpture of the Senhor Santo Cristo, patron of the city.

   

5. 5Sé Cathedral

   Pope Paul III created the Azorean bishopric in 1534, and work on this cathedral began on 10 January 1568 with the Crown paying all the costs. Because of a lack of space it faces north rather than east, and its symmetrical façade has twin bell towers holding 32 bells in all. The 1980 earthquake damaged it, and a fire on 25 November 1985 destroyed its gilded altar woodwork and its organs before the church was rebuilt.

   

6. 6Fortress of São João Baptista

   This fortress on Monte Brasil, a volcanic cone on Terceira's south coast, was begun in the 1590s, while Portugal and Spain shared a king, to protect Angra's port from pirates and privateers and to garrison Spanish troops. A Spanish garrison held out against Portuguese forces for eleven months, from 27 March 1641 to 4 March 1642, and the fort was then renamed in honour of John IV of Portugal. Its main gate, the Portão de Armas, is made of volcanic rock in a Mannerist style.

   

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