Machico

When arriving in Machico, jumps immediately to the view the modern pebble and artificial yellow sand beach with properly equipped resort areas.

Beyond the inviting beach, this parish, which is very well served by restaurants, is very rich in heritage, starting with the matrix Church, located in front of the City Hall and dedicated to Our Lady of Conceição.

It is said that this temple was erected by the family of captains-donees of the island. Certain is that this fifteenth century, early sixteenth century monument still remains today its primitive characteristics of the late Gothic and Manueline. Inside are worth visiting the beautifully gilded carving altars.

Once in Machico, one can also visit the Fort of São João Baptista - built in 1708, with a neo-Gothic chapel dedicated to the saint who gives the name to the fortress - and the Chapel of Our Lord of Miracles, a baroque church built on the site of a chapel of the fifteenth century that was destroyed by the flood of 1803.

Another point of interest is the church of Piquinho or Caramanchão. Opened in 1967, this temple is dedicated to the patron São José whose evocation is made in honor of a small Manor, which once existed on the summit of a hill on Sitio do Piquinho, with a chapel dedicated to this saint of the eighteenth century. Of this chapel remain small ruins with a great archaeological value.

Machico has a diversity of churches. Among them, there are the churches of Our Lady of Conceição, of Preces in Ribeira Grande, São Roque Chapel and the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace.