Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada is the largest municipality and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,287 inhabitants, in an area of. There are 17,629 residents in the three central civil parishes that comprise the historical city: São Pedro, São Sebastião, and São José. Ponta Delgada became the region's administrative capital under the revised constitution of 1976; the judiciary and Catholic See remained in the historical capital of Angra do Heroísmo while the Legislative Assembly of the Azores was established in Horta.
History
The origin of the placename Ponta Delgada was elaborated by the famous Portuguese chronicler, Father Gaspar Frutuoso, who wrote:In around 1450, Pêro de Teive established a small fishing village that eventually grew into the urban agglomeration in Santa Clara.
Populated since 1444, São Miguel was a relatively large island with small settlements scattered about, except for Vila Franca do Campo in the central-southern coast and the smaller community of Ponta Delgada. Villa Franca had for many years been the center of the island economically and socially and the seat of the local government, but many nobles and landed gentry despised its subordinate status to the government in that town. The nobles in Ponta Delgada sent a secret contingent, headed by Fernão Jorge Velho, to meet with King Manuel in Lisbon to petition that the community be emancipated. In Abrantes, King Manuel conferred a foral on 29 May 1507, elevating the settlement to the status of the village.
In 1522, an earthquake and landslide devastated the provincial capital, destroying many of the buildings and killing several people. Ponta Delgada became the only centre with an infrastructure to support the Azorean bureaucracy and supplant its important economic links. Quickly, its role changed, and eventually it was elevated to the status of city during the reign of King D. João III by decree, dated 2 April 1546.
The naval Battle of Ponta Delgada took place on 26 July 1582, off the coast, as part of the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis. An Anglo-French corsair expedition sailed against Spain to preserve Portuguese control of the Azores, which had aligned itself with the pretender António, Prior of Crato, thereby preventing Spanish control.
During the 19th century, the municipality experienced its greatest boost of economic activity, with the funneling of citrus exports to the United Kingdom and the growth of foreign-owned businesses in the historic center, many of them Jewish merchants after 1818. As with other centres across the archipelago, the town of Ponta Delgada experienced many of the trends common for the period, including the "greening" of the communities, the construction of many of the ornate homes/estates, the clearing of animals from urban spaces, the opening of newer, larger roadways, the moving of cemeteries to the periphery, and relocation of markets for fish, meat and fruits. Due to these changes, and growth of the mercantile class, Ponta Delgada became the third largest town in Portugal, in economic riches and the number of residents. The poet Bulhão Pato, writing of Ponta Delgada, was surprised by the extraordinary riches of the plantation owners, the "gentlemen farmers" that lived within the urbanized core: exporters of oranges and corn, bankers, investors, industrialists and shippers, all contributing to a privileged class of economic and social thinkers and philanthropists.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Ponta Delgada's position was relatively high, although the changing importance of rural economies steadily chipped away at its growth. But it remained the central place in the economy and hierarchy of the Azorean archipelago. Consequently, it was at the forefront of political change following the Carnation Revolution. In one such event, property owners and right-leaning farmers challenged the Civil Governor António Borges Coutinho, who was responsible, under the direction of the MFA government, to implement land reforms. The Micalense Farmers' Protest, forced his resignation, and inspired a series of terrorist acts that plunged the Azores into political turmoil. After a clandestine round-up of arrests and detentions by the Military Governor, the Autonomous District of Ponta Delgada was extinguished, along with the other districts on 22 August 1975, with the establishment of the Junta Regional dos Açores, the provisional government that assumed the competencies of the administration during the region's transition to constitutional autonomy.
Geography
Physical geography
The municipality of Ponta Delgada is one of the larger administrative divisions in the archipelago, extending from the center of the island to the western coast. Ponta Delgada is bordered on the northeast by the municipality of Ribeira Grande, and southeast by relatively new municipality of Lagoa.Geomorphologically, Ponta Delgada covers a volcanic area composed of two structures: the Picos Region and Sete Cidades Massif. The Picos Region extends from the shadow of the ancient volcano of the Água de Pau Massif until the area around the Sete Cidades caldera. It is a volcanic axial zone oriented generally in a northwest–southeast direction, essentially defined by several spatter cones and lava flows and predominantly covered by dense vegetation and pasture lands. Its relief is relatively planar, especially along the northern and southern coasts, where many of the urban communities are located.
The Sete Cidades Massif, the other geomorphological structure that makes up the municipality of Ponta Delgada, consists of a central volcanic caldera and lake-filled cones which surround the crater. It occupies the extreme western part of the island, oriented along a similar northwest–southwest orientation, with many regional radial fractures marked by lava domes and spatter cones. The Sete Cidades Volcano at the center of the Massif consists of a caldera and a polygenetic volcanic field within it, that includes four lakes. The caldera is almost circular and has evolved over the course of three phases. The first occurred 36,000 years ago forming the collapsed principal structure. The second phase conforms to a period approximately 29,000 years ago, when volcanic eruptions collapsed the northwest part of the structure. Finally, the third phase caused the collapse of the north and northeastern portions of the caldera.
Geologically, within the last 5,000 years, the central cone has been active and responsible for causing most of the activity in the archipelago, during that period. These geological eruptions were essentially trachyte eruptions of the sub-Plinian or Plinian type, with hydro-magmatic characteristics. The last eruption, at about 500 years ago, gave rise to the Caldeira Seca cone. Although there has been no historical activity today, its active status continues to be debated by the scientific community. Most recently, its diverse geography includes various types of basaltic volcanism, both effusive and less explosive along its flanks, usually conditioned by local and radial faults. The Mosteiros Graben is also an important feature in this area, representing collapse of lands on the northwestern flank of the caldera. Although there are no active aerial volcanic characteristics, submarine vents around the region of Ponta da Ferraria and the beach at Mosteiros have been identified.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification, Ponta Delgada has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. It has warm dry summers, with moderate precipitation, and mild, wet winters. Much like the rest of the Azores, the city is shaped by the Gulf Stream, and consequently has a narrow temperature variation. Mean temperatures vary between in the winter to around in the summer and daytime highs vary between in the winter to in the summer. The average annual relative humidity is around 80%, which may influence the perceived temperature by a few degrees in the warmer months. Temperatures above, or below have never been registered. The strong influence of the Atlantic Ocean produces significant seasonal lag. On average, the coolest month is February, while the warmest month is August, as well as September, October, November and December each having warmer weather compared to July, June, May and April respectively.The Gulf Stream also contributes to unstable weather that varies greatly during autumn and spring, making weather forecasting on a daily basis difficult. Winters are generally milder and summers are generally humid when compared to those of continental Portugal. Its location is one of the limits for pressure measurement to verify the North Atlantic Oscillation.
Human geography
Much like other communities in the archipelago of the Azores, the municipality is shaped by its geography; most homes are clustered along the regional road network that circles the island, with many ancillary or agricultural access roads bisecting the central portion of the island along a north–south axis.Administratively, the municipality is composed of 24 parishes, that handle development, in the defense of local social, cultural, recreation and environmental concerns:
- Ajuda da Bretanha: new rural community, broken-off in 2002 from the parish of Bretanha, with a population of less than 1500 inhabitants;
- Arrifes: the largest milk-producing region of the Azores, Arrifes' population in 2001 was less than 7000 inhabitants, concentrated in three areas: Milagres, Piedade, and Saude;
- Candelária: 1184 residents lived in this community in 2001, an agricultural zone that is also highly forested;
- Capelas: often assumed to be the location of many religious sanctuaries, this agricultural community was named for the volcanic structures that populated the coastal areas;
- Covoada: de-annexed from Relva in 1980, it is an agricultural community populated by small lakes, with 1259 inhabitants;
- Fajã de Baixo: one of the peripheral suburbs of the city of Ponta Delgada, it is highly concentrated, dense parish with 1,124.2 inhabitants/km2;
- Fajã de Cima: the northern limits of the city of Ponta Delgada, with a large residential population of 3634 inhabitants ;
- Fenais da Luz: the community is primarily located along a plain of productive farmland, its population less than 2000 residents ;
- Feteiras: a southern coastal community primarily concentrated on farming, with a population of 1709 inhabitants ;
- Ginetes: an agricultural and fishing community in the western part of the municipality, there were 1267 residents living in this parish in 2001;
- Livramento: also referred to as Rosto do Cão, it is a continuation of the urbanized area of Ponta Delgada, and home to less than 3500 residents;
- Mosteiros: known for the islets, and hydrothermal vents off-shore, this is the westernmost parish of 1196 inhabitants;
- Pilar da Bretanha: de-annexed in 2002 from the parish of Bretanha, this parish includes 750 residents dispersed in the foothills of the Sete Cidades Massif;
- Relva: known as the location of the international airport, Relva is an important suburb and industrial center, with 2703 residents in 2001;
- Remédios: nestled between Bretanha and Santa Bárbara, along the northern coast, it is an area of dairy farming, with 997 inhabitants;
- Santa Bárbara: a parish with less than 100 inhabitants, between Santo António and Remedios, concentrated on agriculture;
- Santa Clara: an industrial center in the city of Ponta Delgada, known for its football club, C.D. Santa Clara, as the center of the commercial fishery and manufacturing, as well as the island's fuel deposit;
- Santo António: another agricultural community along the northern coast, whose population in 2001 was more than 2000 inhabitants;
- São José : one of the traditional centers of the urbanized core of Ponta Delgada, that includes many of the historical buildings, including Campo de São Francisco, Church of São José and the sanctuary of the Convent of Esperança ;
- São Pedro : a central parish in the city of Ponta Delgada, home to the University of the Azores, the Marina, hotels and commercial businesses, and many blocks of apartments along Avenida D. João III and Avenida Natalia Correia;
- São Roque: also part of the Rosto do Cão area, it encompasses Ponta Delgada's primary beaches, seaside avenues, as well as the city's municipal stadium and industrial park ;
- São Sebastião : the central baixa of the city, includes all the historical buildings, traditional commercial business, and tourist attractions, including the Municipal buildings, Portas da Cidade, Matriz Church, Hospital do Divino Espirito Santo and Courts;
- São Vicente Ferreira: consists of primarily agricultural tracts along the northern coast and population of 1664 inhabitants ;
- Sete Cidades: located within the crater of the Sete Cidades Massif, the parish is bordered by twin lakes, and considered an ex-libris of the island of São Miguel.
The urban core includes the baixa or lower town, referring to the historic centre of buildings, shops and landmarks that gathered over the centuries around the square of São Sebastião and Praça Gonçalo Velho. Immediately around this urban core are the municipal hall, the gates to the city and old customhouse buildings in front of the main roadway that follows the coast. Other important landmarks include the Portas do Mar, main tower of the SolMar Avenida Center mall and Theatre Micalense.