Açores – Ponta Delgada

With a sketchy forecast, we decide to stay in town and explore Ponta Delgada (pop 67,229 in 2021) by foot; if it gets drizzly, we can take cover in a church or museum. The Jardim Padre Sena Freitas begins our walk with vivd flowers. Birds of paradise grow here in bunches.

We journey west to the Campo de São Francisco, a beautiful, wide plaza with incredible geometric patterns in the dark basalt calçadas and bordered by naked, gnarled trees. The Santuario do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres stands at the north side of the Campo, part of the Convento de Nossa Senhora da Esperança (16th century). After catching flashes of color, this might as well be a black and white photo.

The Santuario houses a 'miraculous' figure of Ecce Homo (16th century), in a special capela built under the coro alto. It is separated by glass and a gate, but we can see the incredible tile panels depicting the Passion along the left (south) wall (António de Oliveira Bernardes, 1712)

 

 

 

 

The azulejos panels (1786-87) in the Santuario are from the Real Fábrica do Rato and tell stories from the life of Madre Teresa de Anunciata, founder of the group worshipping the icon. She is of the Ordem de Santa Clara, as can be seen by the crossed arms at the top of the coro arch.

 

 

 

 

 

The Igreja de São José (18th century) occupies the west side of the Campo, on the former site of the Mosteiro da Ordem de São Francisco. The scale on the western side of town grows to an industrial dimension, with some intriguing forms.

Inside, the church is surprisingly light, airy, and features a cycle of trompe-l'œil ceilings – the central roundel over the nave shows the Virgin over a serpent with the inscription: "SEM PECCADO ORIGINAL". 

There are two central chapels in the aisles that both feature pairs of figures. The Chapel on the left (south) is dedicated to "S IOA BOATISTA" (John the Baptist with the Agnus Dei) and "S IOA AVAGELISTA" (John the Evangelist with the eagle). The lateral chapel to the south also has a pair of figures, the Imaculado  Coração de Maria and the Sagrado Coração de Jesus, under an octagonal skylight.

 

 

 

 

The main altar dazzles with Baroque gold. The choir area contains two large azulejos panels with stories from the life of São Francisco – on the left, he receives the stigmata. The lateral chapel on the right (north) hold the Santíssimo Sacramento under a round skylight.

The Ermida de Nossa Senhora das Dores (c1789) acts as a large octagonal chapel attached to the Igreja. Its altar includes a small Pietà surrounded by polychrome azulejos.

 

 

 

The Forte de São Brás (17th century) encloses southern edge of the Campo. Though picturesque, the Forte and its grounds don't feel inviting. It contains the Museu Military, and there are several monuments placed around the walls, but as an attraction, it seems undeveloped – a hulking, dull lump on the green shore.

So, we continue our walk eastward on the Avenida Marginal (Infante Dom Henriques), until we reach the Portas do Mar. This is a kind of shopping and entertainment area, with the slashing diagonal of the 'Anfiteatro' serving as an urban landmark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Igreja de São Pedro (18th century) is opposite the Anfiteatro on a large, raised plot. A bed of flowers spells out the name like a welcome mat.

The building has an unusual, protruding, chamfered entrance. Inside, this geometry is repeated at the capela-mor, with the entracnes to the lateral chapels cut into the space at angles, and the chancel arch topped with a kind of truncated conical vault.

 

 

 

The worship space is otherwise simple and clean, with a lovely, 'faux-panel' painted barrel vault. The chapels and the offering repeat a theme of the Arma Christi – symbols from the Passion of Jesus. We are curious to see that dice are included among the symbols (Matthew 27:35), even in the charming 'homemade arrangements' on the altars.

Our visit is very enjoyable but brief (the church is tiny), leavng us plenty of time for lunch. Though we've walked from one end of the Marina to the other, walking back takes less than twenty minutes.

 

 

 

 

We pass the Igreja da Graça (17th century), now the Academia das Artes, and the Igreja de São Sebastião (Igreja Matriz, 16th century); the south portal here is another doorway with an anthropomorphic face.

The weather brightens in the afternoon, and we make our way past the Igreja do Colégio dos Jesuítas (17th century). The feeling of spring that we hoped to find when we left Lisboa is present in the Jardim Antero de Quental, named for the nineteenth century Portuguese poet and Socialst (PSP) activist, a contemporary of Eça de Queirós and Guerra Junqueiro – in 1891, suffering from tuberculosis (and possibly bi-polar disorder), he committed suicide near the Santuario do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagre.

At centerstage of the amphitheater-like Jardim is a memorial, and behind Quental's bust, his poetry ("Sonetos Completos", J.P. Oliveira Martins, 1886):

"Solemnia Verba"

    Disse ao meu coração: Olha por quantos

Caminhos vãos andámos! Considera

Agora, desta altura fria e austera,

Os ermos que regaram nossos prantos…

    Pó e cinzas, onde houve flor e encantos!

E noite, onde foi luz a primavera!

Olha a teus pés o mundo e desespera

Semeador de sombras e quebrantos! –

    Porém o coração, feito valente

Na escola da tortura repetida,

E no uso do pensar tornado crente,

    Respondeu: D'esta altura vejo o Amor!

Viver não foi em vão, se é isto a vida,

Nem foi de mais o desengano e a dor.

[ I to my heart: 'Regard the manifold

And useless paths we took! Look back and see

Now from this height, austere and cold may be,

The desert watered by our tears untold.

Ashes and dust where flowers bloomed of old!

Where shone the spring is now obscurity!

Regard the world beneath, despairingly,

Thou author of delusions, and their hold!'

To which my heart, made valorous and strong

Within the school of constant torturing pain,

And full of faith since tried by grief and wrong,

Made answer: 'I see Love from here in wait!

If this be life, my life was not in vain,

Nor grief and disillusion were too great. ]

("Sixty-Four Sonnets", Edgar Prestage, trans, David Nutt, 1894)

 

 

 

 

From the Jardim, we head north, uphill, to the Ermida de Sant'Ana (17th century). The Ermida is part of the Jardim Botânico José de Canto (1843-46). An iridescent rooster (red junglefowl-?, top image) greets us near the ticket booth and, nearly motionless, guards the gate.

The interior of the Ermida is intimate, with two shallow chapels flanking the chancel and containing the figures of Sant'Ana and Santa Quitéria. The capela-mor is framed in 'modest Baroque', two-toned woodwork. The dedication to "SANTA ANNA" is in a cartouche at the top of the archway.

The path connecting the Ermida to the larger Jardim is lined with tile panels telling the history of the Açores in both Portuguese and English.

 

 

  

 

 

The path leads back to the statue of José do Canto. The old estufa (greenhouse), now the Pavilhão de Festas, is to the left, next to an enormous Australian banyan tree.

From here, the trail branches in three directions. Staying straight, we find a small statue commemorating the visit of 'El Rei Dom Carlos' in 1901. But the path dead-ends here, so we double-back and take the paved road up the hill to the north, past a flamboyant group of exotic chickens.

 

 

 

 

The Palácio stands at the top of the hill on a wide, raised plot, which allows views down from the canopy into the thick, mossy branches.

The Roseiral is in a lower area behind the house. No roses yet in, but the beds leave an outline of grassy shapes – a coloring book waiting to be filled.

 

 

Circling the Roseiral, we enter a tangled, primitive-looking arbor full of palms and ferns. Several of these trees (nīkau palm-?) sprout bright, stringy bundles near the base of the 'bulb' where the leafy branches fan out – as if from the imagination of Dr Seuss.

By now the skies are clear, and we are glad for the shade. The ground-cover includes calla lillies and birds of paradise. Returning to the paved road near the entrance, there is another grand dame, an ancient, twisted Madeira laurel.

 

 

 

 

We continue east on the Rua de São Gonçalo, the main 'uphill' thoroughfare. The newer buildings are less bashful about their paint. Cutting downhill, we pass the Instituto Margarida de Chaves with its solitary, towering palm (Chilean cocopalm-?). The tree is especially eye-catching for protecting a basalt 'bathtub Madonna', with Her own lighting and offerings of roses.

We find the compact but inviting campus of the Universidade dos Açores, another garden-like oasis. As the afternoon shadows begin to stretch, we look on Maps for a miradouro to watch the sunset.

 

 

 

The road to the Ermida de Nossa Senhora Mãe de Deus (16th century, rebuilt 20th century) is steep enough to be called 'Ladeira' (slope). The Ermida commands the peak, facing west on a narrow lawn with a handful of scraggly trees for company.

There are views in all directions: south to the Marina, east to the edge of town, and north to the volcanic hills. An upper landing also allows views west to the historic center, over the apartment blocks on the Ladeira. As the low sun begins to spray coral and amber tones into the clouds, the church begins to glow, with the rising moon over its shoulder.

 

 

 

 

 

Walking downhill and west, the dun in our eyes, we pause in the Mercado da Graça (19th century) for alook at the local produce – many kinds of potatoes, citrus, and lots of pineapple.

We make our way through the Portas da Cidade (1783), along the Avenida Marginal, and end our tour at the Praça Vasco da Gama, with its Art Nouveau 'Fontanário' (1890). Though the trees are bare, and the flowers are in planters, there's plenty of green and enough in bloom to give a taste of spring.