Praia da Vitória travel guide

Top 10 sights in Praia da Vitória

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1. 

   1© Rafael Nascimento · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Sé Cathedral of Angra do Heroísmo

   The cathedral of Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira, begun in 1570 on the site of an earlier church and the largest church in the Azores. Fire gutted it in 1983 and the restoration took twenty-five years; the treasury holds Portuguese silver from the Indies trade.

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2. 

   2

   Centro Histórico de Angra do Heroísmo

   The historic centre of Angra do Heroísmo, the first town founded in the Azores and for three centuries the compulsory stop for fleets returning from Brazil and the Indies. Its grid of sixteenth-century streets became a World Heritage site in 1983, months before an earthquake damaged much of it.

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3. 

   3

   Fort of São João Baptista

   A bastioned fortress on Monte Brasil begun in 1593 under Spanish rule, with four kilometres of wall, and one of the largest fortifications ever built by Portugal. It is still an army base, so access is limited to parts of the enceinte.

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4. 

   4

   Convent of São Francisco

   A baroque Franciscan convent and church in the centre of Angra, built in the seventeenth century, whose cloisters now house the Angra do Heroísmo Museum. The church keeps its gilded woodwork and azulejo panels.

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5. 

   5© Francisco Antunes · CC BY 2.0

   Forte de São Sebastião

   A small fort at the Pipas landing in Angra do Heroismo, known to everyone as the Castelinho. Raised in the 16th century to cover the eastern side of the bay alongside the far larger fortress of Sao Joao Baptista, it stands within the UNESCO-listed old town.

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6. 

   6© Concierge.2C · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Palácio Bettencourt

   An eighteenth-century townhouse in Angra, once a governor's residence, now holding the regional public library and the Azores archive. Its stonework survived the 1980 earthquake better than most of the street.

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7. 

   7

   Forte da Igreja

   The coastal ruins of a sixteenth-century fort at São Mateus da Calheta, named after the church beside it. Only stretches of the seaward wall are left, one of dozens of small batteries built along this coast against corsairs.

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8. 

   8

   Forte da Greta

   A small seventeenth-century battery on the Santa Catarina promontory at the western edge of Mós bay in Terceira, one link in the chain of coastal works around the island. Little more than its platform survives.

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   9

   Moinhos Castle

   The ruins of a sixteenth-century fort on the Angra shore, officially São Cristóvão, known by the windmills that stood beside it. It formed part of the harbour defences the Spanish built after taking the island in 1583.

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10. 

    10

    Museu de Angra do Heroísmo

    The island museum, in the Franciscan convent in Angra, covering Azorean navigation, the whaling economy and the town's role in the Atlantic fleets. Carriages, arms and sacred art fill the cloister ranges.

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1. 

   1

   Manor of Santa Catarina

   A manor house in São Pedro parish, Angra, built in the eighteenth century for a noble family and later the bishop's palace. Its garden and private chapel survive with the house.

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   2

   Convent of São Gonçalo

   A convent of Poor Clares in Angra, founded in the sixteenth century and the largest in the Azores, with a church whose gilded woodcarving is the finest on the island. Part of it is now used by the regional government.

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   3

   Church of São Mateus da Calheta

   A baroque church at São Mateus da Calheta, built in the nineteenth century by the fishing village's own subscription and one of the largest parish churches in the Azores. Its two towers are visible from the sea, which was the intention.

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   4

   Forte de Santo António do Monte Brasil

   A fort on the Monte Brasil peninsula above Angra, built in the seventeenth century to cover the harbour entrance. The walking track around the volcanic cone passes through it.

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   5

   Forte da Má Ferramenta

   A fort near the harbour of São Mateus da Calheta on Terceira's southern coast, whose name means bad tool — said to come from the difficulty of cutting its emplacement out of the rock. Foundations and part of a wall remain.

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