Ribeira Brava
Beginning to settle in the early fifteenth century, Ribeira Brava, located on the south coast of Madeira Island, was one of the first parishes created on the Island following the creation of Funchal and Machico. Its river showed the importance of communication with the interior of the island and its sea port. Forests were cleared to begin cultivation, along with the breeding of livestock and fishing. With this, the subsistence of the first settlers was guaranteed. Thus arose the crops, the vegetable gardens, the vineyard and the fruit trees attached to the traditional thatched houses at that time, which were later replaced by luxurious manor houses.
The name Ribeira Brava comes from the impetuous river that crosses the village fruit of the water courses that cross the county, with North-South orientation that has sharp slopes. This was the fact that most impressed the discoverers, having led to give the name Ribeira Brava to the village.
Ribeira Brava is a Portuguese parish of Ribeira Brava county, with 17.50 km ² of area and 5 941 inhabitants (2001). Density: 339,5 hab / km ². It is located at a latitude 32.65 (32 ° 39 ‘) north and at a longitude 17.0667 (17 ° 4’) west, being at an altitude of 0 meters. Ribeira Brava has a road linking Calheta and Funchal. The main activity is agriculture. It is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean to the south and with mountains to the north.
The [Ribeira Brava] village is the oldest village on the island, it already existed in 1440. Its history is the island and the origins of the same. The river (wild) christened the place to be very copious in the rainy season, often causing havoc over about 8 km route.
The local architecture is of interest to complement the knowledge of this land that de brava only has the qualifier. The church of São Bendo (XV century), the target of successive transformations that disfigured it, exhibits magnificent panels of clear Flemish influence, representing the Virgin and Child, Saint Benedict and Saint Bernard.
The Orago of the seat of the county is São Bento, for whom the inhabitants show special devotion, keeping on 29 June one of the most popular pilgrimages of the island.
The streets and a few buildings from the beginning of the century recall the neighborhood and the initiative of the Visconde da Ribeira Brava, which contributed to the creation of the county in 1914 and numerous improvements such as streets, theater, and Reconstruction of the primitive fortress of São Bento.The historical center (primitive architecture and narrow streets) witnesses picturesque charms “.
The toponym of the Ribeira Brava comes from a stream of water that crosses it and that almost always presents itself with an indomitable flow. These currents, usually used to water the fields, are called Levada. The largest of these, Levada do Norte, also known as Levada da Ribeira Brava-Câmara de Lobos, runs over 60 km, traverses 36 tunnels and directly irrigates the lands of thousands of farmers, between Ribeira Brava and Funchal. This importance of the water well already of the times of the primitive colonization of the Island.
Already in 1461, a system of water distribution functioned, which was reformulated successively until “draining” in the Hydraulic Plan of 1943.
Already in 1461, a system of water distribution functioned, which was reformulated successively until “draining” in the Hydraulic Plan of 1943.
From the cultivation of the land, families are removed, especially traditional products, such as sweet potatoes, beans, vegetables, cereals, fruit, and wine. In recent times there have been some investments, with more incidence in the branch of floriculture. The non-agricultural activities that contribute to their way to employment, are the construction industry, branch in which there has also been some investment and the mechanical workshops and support to other economic activities. There is unemployment, principally what affects young people looking for their first job.
There is in the parish a House of Culture, a Museum with several nuclei, a Day Center, Unemployment Support Center, Fire Station, PSP, GNR, CTT, Banking Agencies, Various Sports and Cultural Associations, various hotels, restaurants, etc.
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Campanário
The name “Campanário” originated when the discoverers arrived at the Island of Madeira and when passing by the Cabo Girão they saw an islander with two high legs. Seeing the rock with a structure so strange and so characteristic to a steeple, they gave the name to the region derived to the islet: Campanario.
Campanário is a Portuguese parish of the county of Ribeira Brava, with 11.80 km ² of surface area and 4 131 inhabitants (2001). Density: 350,1 hab / km ². It is located at a latitude 32.65 (32 ° 39 ‘) North and at a longitude 17.033 (17 ° 2′) West, being at an altitude of 0 meters. Campanário has a road that connects Calheta and Funchal. The main activity is agriculture. It is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean to the south. There are mountains to the north.
The parish of Campanário is the second most populated of the Municipality. It is situated on the coastline (south) east of the county seat, once known as the “barn of the conquests” for being an important center for cereals exported to the coasts of North Africa.
The parish[Campanarío], since the sixteenth century, was not only a land of good wheat and corn but also a land of chestnuts.
The painting of the houses and the clear and unmistakable tone of the women’s dress gave it characteristics that are much appreciated by tourists.
According to the Madeirense Elucidatory, when the discoverers arrived in Madeira, and when they passed the Cabo Girão, they saw in the distance, near the coast, a small islet that seemed to them, in the distance, to have the form of a steeple (bell tower). For this reason, they began to designate Campanario as the surrounding land.
It is not known the exact date, but there are documents that speak of the village of Campanário in 1556, and of the parish in 1698.
The present Church was built in 1963, replacing the previous church that had 1683 on the frontispiece, which should be reconstruction. There was a reference to a Church in 1677.
Until 1835 it was integrated with the county of Funchal.
In 1835 until 1914 was part of the Municipality of Câmara de Lobos, with the creation of this county (in 1835).
“It is the case of the Pedestrian Walk in the Levada coming from the north, that passes through the parish, (…) the parochial church, consecrated to S. Brás, and The various chapels that exist, and there is still a handicraft marked by the regional embroidery of Madeira.”
Of the active population of this parish, approximately 35% are currently engaged in agriculture. Tapas, vines, bananas, oranges and tropical fruits are the most profitable crops.
In industry, the sectors of civil construction, carpentry and locksmithing, automobile workshops and marbles and cement blocks are the most important. In relation to commerce, there is a coverage in the parish of the basic needs of the population.
The parish also has an extension of the Health Center of Ribeira Brava, pharmacy and doctors’ offices.
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Serra de Água
28 of December of 1676, the parish of Serra de Água was created which belonged to the county of Ponta do Sol until 1914, the year that belonged to the county of Ribeira Brava. Located in the centre of the southwestern part of the Island, the Serra de Água is surrounded by a dense grove and high mountains, among which stand the peaks of the Cross, Cedar and Pico Grande. It is irrigated by numerous streams, such as Fajã das Éguas, Poço and Serra da Água, which together form the Ribeira Brava river.
Its name derives from the construction of a mill destined to the sawing of the woods with the name of “saw of water”, the name that later extended to all the parish. Woods were one of the first sources of wealth exploited in the Madeira Archipelago. Due to the abundance of vegetation in the Serra de Água and with the help of the mills that sawed the wood with the force of the water, the commerce and the export of wood generated great profits.
Serra de Água is a Portuguese parish of Ribeira Brava county, with 24,70 km² of area and 1,137 inhabitants (2001). Density: 53.3 hab / km². It is located at a latitude 32.71667 (32 ° 43 ‘) North and at a longitude 17.033 (17 ° 2’) West, being at an altitude of 640 meters. Serra de Água has a road that connects north of Calheta and Funchal. The main activity is agriculture.
The Serra de Água has a school, a sports hall, a church and a square.
“Serra de Agua belongs to the Municipality of Ponta de Sol until 1914. It is 8 km from the current headquarters of the county and venerates Mrs. da Ajuda since the primitive Nucleus formed around the old chapel.
The parish was definitively established in 1680, although it had been
Created by the alvará of the end of 1676. New time (and more spacious) arose about
1700, with the invocation of the old chapel.
Surrounded by high mountains, the locality is in a valley and is irrigated by several streams without which there would be no conditions for agro-livestock. Wood sawmills were industries that settled first, due to the raw material provided by large forest patches. Climbing the valley of Ribeira Brava and not losing sight of it, one captures the singular landscape and the multitude profiled of poplars that garnish and accompany the banks. ”
“For administrative purposes, it was annexed to Ribeira Brava on October 18, 1881. It later became part of the municipality of Ponta do Sol from its inception in 1835, definitively becoming part of the municipality of Ribeira Brava in 1914, Date of its creation. ”
“Agriculture is the predominant economic activity of the parish, following a tradition that, as mentioned before, comes and times far away, more concretely from the beginning of the settlement of the island. In terms of the secondary sector, the hotel industry is the main activity that generates jobs, while civil construction, along with the other parishes, also occupies considerable workstations.”
It was in 1953, that in this parish, the first Hydroelectric Power Plant of the island appeared.
Among the main points of interest, besides the beautiful views that can be appreciated from below as well as the Regional Road 101 that climbs the mountains en route to Encumeada, is the chapel of Our Lady of Ajuda.
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Tabua
The parish of Tabua was created in the last half of the sixteenth century, around the year 1588, and there is an old document relating to this parish, dated July 2, 1743, which establishes the Parish Curato.
As of October 18, 1881, the parish was annexed to Ponta do Sol for administrative purposes, a municipality that belonged until the creation of the county of Ribeira Brava in 1914. Situated on the seafront on the southwest coast of Madeira Island, The smallest parish in the county of Ribeira Brava and is crossed by a river that originates in the slopes of Pico das Pedras in the north-south direction, which ends at its small seafront.
This parish was traditionally known by the name “Atabua”, a name that is still given to it today by the people. In 1838 its name was changed to Tabua by Father António Francisco Drumond e Vasconcelos. The name “Tabua” derives from a plant called tabua that used to abound in that region, used in the manufacture of mats and backs of chairs.
Tabua is a Portuguese parish of the county of Ribeira Brava, with 11.10 km ² of area and 1 105 inhabitants (2001). Density: 99.5 inhab / km². It is located at a latitude 32.667 (32 ° 40 ‘) North and at a longitude 17.0833 (17 ° 5’) West. Tábua has a road that connects Calheta and Funchal. The main activity is agriculture. It is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean to the south. There are mountains to the north.
Tabua (popularly called Atabua) will not pass without reference because it is a parish of the smallest of the municipality, created in the last metadae of the seventeenth century. Situated on the seafront, west of the county seat, the parish originated in the chapel of the Santissima Trindade, replaced by that of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, and the parish church dates from the end of the 17th century.
The Ribeira de Tabua is born next to the Peak of Pedras (altitude of 1510 meters), has of course 7 km and flows into the parish.
The Tabuenses live mainly on agriculture, whose soil (beyond all other skills) is conducive to the vine and cane. ”
Its old Temple, seat of the parish, was destroyed by a storm, dating to the construction of the present one, of the year of 1696.
It should also be mentioned that this parish is crossed by a river, in the north-south direction, which ends at its small seafront. This one has its origin in the slopes of Pico da Pedras, next to Paul da Serra, and receives the tributary of the brook of the Barqueiro.
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