Description Pico

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Pico Island is the second largest in the archipelago and the one with the highest mountain in Portugal, precisely Pico, which gave it its name, at an altitude of 2,351 m.

The extensive lava fields that mark the island's landscape, which the local population calls “lajidos” or “biscuit lands” form the Pico Island Vineyard Culture Landscape, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Of these the Lajido da Criação Velha and Lajido de Santa Luzia sites are worth mentioning.

While on the black lava floor the “rilheiras” stand out, grooves left by the wheels of the ox carts that transported grapes and barrels, in the ports and ports along the seashore are the “kite rollers”, slopes carved to facilitate the slide from kites to boats, which still represent this activity today.

The immense volcanic cone of Pico Mountain, the third largest volcano in the Atlantic, imposes itself on the island's landscape. In its main crater there is a lava cone called Piquinho, on top of which permanent fumaroles are responsible for remembering its volcanic nature. At about 1250 meters of altitude, where the pedestrian climb to the Mountain begins, you can already see a large part of the island, as well as the neighboring Faial and São Jorge. The climb to the top is tiring, but it is rewarded by fantastic and unique views, which in clear days reward us additionally with the glimpse of the islands Graciosa and Terceira.

It is in Pico that we find one of the largest visitable lava tubes in the world, the Gruta das Torres, which extends for five kilometers embellished by various types of lava stalactites and stalagmites and striated walls.

For lovers of geotourism, there are other mandatory places to visit: the Furnas de Frei Matias, Silveira and Montanheiros, as well as the Mysteries of Santa Luzia, Prainha and S. João - formed by lava from volcanic eruptions that occurred in the sea and that joined the island, as well as the Arcos do Cachorro, an impressive agglomeration of lavas drilled by numerous tunnels and caves through which the sea swirls.

Other stops are the Lagoons of Capitão, Caiado and Paul, and also the Terra Alta Viewpoint located on the road that surrounds the island from the North, from where we can observe the Island of São Jorge, as well as the landscape that the forest richness of Pico Island offers us.

Pico is a land of strong whaling traditions. Its area is divided into 3 municipalities, Madalena, São Roque and Lajes and, as in the other islands of the Azores, the value of its architectural heritage is concentrated, above all, in the churches and chapels in the different parishes: Igreja de Santa Maria Madalena, in Vila da Madalena, that of São Roque and the Convent and Church of São Pedro de Alcântara, in São Roque do Pico, that of Nossa Senhora da Conceição and the Chapel of São Pedro, in Lajes and many others.

Also noteworthy is the Pico Museum, with its three poles: the Whaling Museum, in Lajes, the Whaling Industry Museum, in São Roque, and the Wine Museum, in Madalena, mandatory places to visit that portray an important time of the history of Pico. The Wine Museum occupies the old facilities of the Convento das Carmelitas, providing visits to the vineyards, wine tasting and, in September, participation in the vintage.

The island of Pico, in addition to its natural wealth, also offers a good gastronomic heritage, largely based on fish and seafood dishes, from which stand out the famous Caldeiradas, the octopus stewed with smelling wine, sausage with yam, meat wet and fish broths. Also famous are its figs, with a bright red interior, the honey produced with the flower of the incense and the Queijo do Pico - a soft paste cow's milk cheese (namely those from São João and Arrife). Everything is watered, of course, by Vinho Verdelho, or by the much appreciated red and white wines of the Island.