Description Ilha de Santa Maria

Booking.com

The island of Santa Maria is part of the Eastern Group of the Azores archipelago, together with São Miguel, which is 81 kilometers away. The green of the fields, the traditional cultures, the chimneys of the whitewashed houses, the dark ocher of the land, the golden of the beaches and its turquoise waters set Santa Maria apart from the rest of the archipelago's islands.

As the island of the Azores is further south and further east, Santa Maria has a warmer and drier climate, which contributes to a greater aridity of the land and dryness of yellowish vegetation, which is why it is also called Ilha do Sol.

The island has two areas with different reliefs and characteristics: a flattened area with lower levels to the west, where the airport and the Vila do Porto houses are located, the largest settlement on the island and the parishes of São Pedro and Almagreira. A more rugged area in the east half of the island, with more luxuriant vegetation and that includes the massif of Pico Alto, the highest point on the island with 590 meters of altitude, from where you have a beautiful panoramic view.

Also noteworthy are the so-called “barreiros” of Santa Maria, reddish colorings in bright orange, with arid appearance and clayey nature, the most famous of which is Barreiro da Faneca, known as the “red desert”. It is considered an area of ??Unique Protected Landscape in the Azores, which includes the Bays of Raposo, Tagarete and Cré.

The volcanic forms of the island take on an unparalleled grandeur in the Ribeira de Maloás, where the river valley is characterized by a waterfall of about 20 m high, resulting from the contact of the sea with a lava flow.

Santa Maria is also known for its jagged coastline with its high rocky tips and bays of calm and crystalline waters, which are a permanent invitation to discover. This is the case of Cré, Raposo and Tagarete bays, among many others.

In São Lourenço, the natural beauty of the bay in the form of an amphitheater, is complemented by the vineyards cultivated in terraces up the hillside, by the white houses next to the sea and by the cove that hosts a wonderful white sand beach and natural pools. At the end of this is the Ilhéu do Romeiro.

Praia Formosa is one of the most popular places on the island, either for its extensive sandy beach with fine and clear sand, or for being one of the best spots for surfing.

The houses in Vila do Porto keep traces of the beginning of the settlement in some houses with ogival doors and windows with Manueline features. The Mother Church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção, patron saint of the village, is one of the oldest churches in the archipelago, although it has undergone several changes over time. At São Brás Fort, the cannons aimed at the sea recall the times of pirate attacks. In Santo Espírito it is worth seeing the baroque facade of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Purificação, as well as visiting the Santa Maria Museum, installed in a typical house, with its two tubular chimneys and the bulky shape of the oven, characteristic elements of rural architecture of Santa Maria.

In Anjos, in addition to its beautiful bay, there is also a statue of Christopher Columbus, as well as the Chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Anjos, where, according to history, the navigator attended a mass on the return journey from America.