Madeira is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean in a region known as Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometers (320 miles) west of the Kingdom of Morocco
Madeira officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, the other being the Azores.
Madeira is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean in a region known as Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometers (250 mi) north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometers (320 mi) west of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Madeira is geologically located on the African Tectonic Plate, although the archipelago is culturally, economically and politically European.
The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the south coast of the main island, the archipelago includes the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo and Desertas administered together with the separate archipelago of the Selvagens Islands.
Madeira was claimed by Portuguese sailors in the service of Infante D. Henrique in 1419, and colonized after 1420, the archipelago is considered the first territorial discovery of the exploratory period of the Age of Discoveries.
In the year 1418, two captains in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira were diverted by a storm to an island which they named Porto Santo (sacred port) in gratitude for divine liberation from a shipwreck.
The following year, an organized expedition, under the captaincy of Zarco, Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, traveled to the island to claim it in the name of the Portuguese Crown.
The first Portuguese settlers began colonizing the islands around 1420 or 1425.
The main port of Funchal is the main Portuguese port busy with cruise ship dockings, with commercial/transatlantic passenger cruises between Europe and the Caribbean and North Africa being an important stopover.
In the north, the valleys contain fine-growing native trees ("laurisilva" forests). The forests on the northern slope of Madeira Island are considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The major tourist attractions are: Madeira Botanical Garden, Achadas da Cruz Viewpoint with Cable Car (Porto Moniz), Ponta de São Lourenço and Baía d´Abra Viewpoint, Natural Pools of Porto Moniz, Fortress of São João Baptista do Pico, Fortress of São Tiago do Funchal (Old Zone of Funchal), Fort of Nossa Senhora do Amparo (Machico), Varadouros Gate (City of Funchal), Typical houses of Santana, Cabo Girão, Porto Santo Beach, Funchal-Monte Cable Car, Caminho Real Bridge and Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (Ponta do Sol) and Sé do Funchal with its Gothic style tower (15th century) and the Statue of João Gonçalves Zarco.
Madeira is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean in a region known as Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometers (250 mi) north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometers (320 mi) west of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Madeira is geologically located on the African Tectonic Plate, although the archipelago is culturally, economically and politically European.
The capital of Madeira is Funchal, which is located on the south coast of the main island, the archipelago includes the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo and Desertas administered together with the separate archipelago of the Selvagens Islands.
Madeira was claimed by Portuguese sailors in the service of Infante D. Henrique in 1419, and colonized after 1420, the archipelago is considered the first territorial discovery of the exploratory period of the Age of Discoveries.
In the year 1418, two captains in the service of Prince Henry the Navigator João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira were diverted by a storm to an island which they named Porto Santo (sacred port) in gratitude for divine liberation from a shipwreck.
The following year, an organized expedition, under the captaincy of Zarco, Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, traveled to the island to claim it in the name of the Portuguese Crown.
The first Portuguese settlers began colonizing the islands around 1420 or 1425.
The main port of Funchal is the main Portuguese port busy with cruise ship dockings, with commercial/transatlantic passenger cruises between Europe and the Caribbean and North Africa being an important stopover.
In the north, the valleys contain fine-growing native trees ("laurisilva" forests). The forests on the northern slope of Madeira Island are considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The major tourist attractions are: Madeira Botanical Garden, Achadas da Cruz Viewpoint with Cable Car (Porto Moniz), Ponta de São Lourenço and Baía d´Abra Viewpoint, Natural Pools of Porto Moniz, Fortress of São João Baptista do Pico, Fortress of São Tiago do Funchal (Old Zone of Funchal), Fort of Nossa Senhora do Amparo (Machico), Varadouros Gate (City of Funchal), Typical houses of Santana, Cabo Girão, Porto Santo Beach, Funchal-Monte Cable Car, Caminho Real Bridge and Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (Ponta do Sol) and Sé do Funchal with its Gothic style tower (15th century) and the Statue of João Gonçalves Zarco.
