![]() ![]() Such topography, however, provides vistas-hence there are seven scenic cable cars on the island’s mountainsides. Flat regions are rare when the Funchal airport runway was expanded, part of it had to be placed on elevated piers above an existing shipyard. The island has few sandy beaches (with black sand) and ample forests. This was during the country’s era of exploration, when sea captains such as Henry the Navigator, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan sailed the world. Irrigation channels known as levadas-originally dug to transport water from the rainy northwest to the drier southeast-are still used, and their banks serve as pathways for hikers and trail runners.Ītlantic ciew from Quinta do Furao Restaurant near Santana, Madeira RPressĬreated five million years ago from volcanic explosions, the island remained uninhabited by humans until Portuguese navigators started visiting in 1419. Some hillside homes still lack driveways due to steepness of land on which they are sited. Vistas include tropical greenery, blue skies and jagged coastal cliffs. Many such steep and twisted routes pass through lush landscapes with terraced agriculture-including sugar cane and sweet potato fields-or wild growth, such as kapok and fig trees. ‘Everything’ was providing the island with access to development funds.ĭespite recent transportation engineering, mountain roads still criss-cross Madeira (within the city of Funchal, one road averages a 25% slope). In 1986-when Portugal joined the European Community-that did everything for us.’ My father grew up in a thatched roofed house with 11 children, and my grandfather would spend one day each week walking to Funchal to sell eggs. ![]() ![]() I know older people who never visited the capital city of Funchal. Forty years ago-everything was very different. However, topography stopped our development. Dinarte Fernandes - Mayor of Santana, Madeira RPress ![]()
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