Azores, an archipelago consisting of nine islands (Flores, Corvo, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, Fayal, Graciosa, São Miguel, and Santa María) is one of the most enchanting places filled with history and magic.
First mentioned by the Arab geographer, Edisi, in the twelfth century, the Azores were discovered by the Portuguese in 1427 during their voyages of discovery.

The Portuguese Prince Infante Dom Henrique (1394-1460), or Henry the Navigator was the founder of modern navigation. He was singularly instrumental in opening up the rest of the world to the Europeans. For the Azoreans, he was their founding father. Henry studied the sea, weather, ships, geography and trade routes. He talked to navigators, and sea captains and he brought to his navigation school (which he founded at Sagres in 1416) cosmographers, mathematicians, cartographers, and learned men of all kinds. He collected maps, charts, books, and ephemera that would educate him and his circle of adventurers.

Henry’s first move was to defeat the Muslims at Ceuta (Morocco) in order to free the African coast for exploration. He, his brothers, and his father, King John I of Portugal, obtained this victory in 1415. Experimented with ships and navigation during this venture, navigational instruments, such as the astrolabe, quadrant, and cross-staff, his captains kept logbooks of their voyages to document their experience for the knowledge of others. They also used flat maps to record longitude and latitude thereby simplifying cartography methods.

It was a bold move to navigate the unexplored seas, to make himself heard and followed in his decision according to which the position on the sea had to be known in order to find one’s way back. There were winds, weather changes, and sea currents to master, ships could have been broken at sea, food supplies and water could have run out during a voyage and diseases could strike. Superstition and fear would interfere. It took only the stout-hearted to head out onto the unknown waters on a voyage of exploration.

Next, Henry colonized the Madeira Islands which were accidentally found by Joao Goncalves Zarco in 1419. They were uninhabited and were to be used as a point of departure for further exploration and in particular, for this study, the discovery and settlement of the Azores. Camoes wrote in The Lusiads, “Thus far, O Portuguese, it is granted to you to glimpse into the future and to know the exploits that await your stout-hearted compatriots on the ocean that, thanks to you is now no longer unknown.”

There are accounts that Henry sent his able seaman and knight Goncalo Velho Cabral, in 1431, with the orders “to sail towards the setting sun until he came to an island.” Others say the islands had been found accidentally by Portuguese sailors returning from a voyage along the African coast or the Madeiras, but this is not possible because the prevailing winds and ocean currents would not have allowed it. Henry and his school of navigators knew there were islands located a few hundred miles off the Portuguese coast because they were shown on a Catalan map. In 1431, Cabral found a series of volcanic rocks protruding out from under the water which he named “formigas” or ants. He was just 25 miles from the nearest Azorean island at the time which apparently was not visible to his crew or him. He returned to Henry and was sent out immediately the next year to reexplore the area.

On August 15, 1432, Cabral found Santa Maria, the easternmost island of the Azorean archipelago. It was the feast day of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother, or Santa Maria, and consequently named for her. The island was lush with forests, streams, and birdlife. Apparently, there were many birds in flight, thought to be goshawks, and hence, the islands got the Portuguese name “acor” or hawk. However, there have never been goshawks there according to ornithologists. Many believe the birds seen were the Azorean buzzards.

The Azores Archipelago represents an incredible daring adventure, waiting to be lived by all the visitors and tourists who want to start a beautiful expedition to these magnificent lands.

Come and discover the misteries of Azores, always counting on Ponta Delgada Low Cost Transfers, which will provide fantastic trips for unforgettable memories!