Enjoy the
beautiful nature
The islands encompass every
shade of green divided by borders of the blue hydrangea. Many
flowers sprinkle the slopes running down to the sea. Chestnut,
beech and other trees intersperse the remains of the Laurisilva
forest that predated human settlement. And there are volcanic
features of craters and cones, lava flows, cliffs, ravines and
caves, fumaroles and lagoons.
Volcano peaks
The volcano peaks provide excellent views over the nature
of the Azores. Pico is the main central cater that gave its name
to the island. Be it from here or the volcanic peaks of Terças
(Graciosa), Pico da Esperança (São Jorge) or Cabeço Gordo (Faial),
there are great views out over the island and the other islands
in the group.
On Flores there are fine views from either Morro Alto
or Pico dos Sete Pés. While on Corvo, the Morro do Pão de Açúcar
provides a spectacular view over both the island and the sea.
On São Miguel, from Pico do Carvão, surrounded by lagoons, you
can see the island centre and the sea, while from Pico do Ferro,
you look down on the spectacular Vale das Furnas. On Santa Maria,
get up Pico Alto for a full panorama of the island. All in all,
there are many viewpoints from which you can view the fabulous
land and sea panoramas.
Fajas
On your visit to the Azores, the fajãs will certainly
be a source of great interest and admiration, because of the unusual
beauty that they introduce into the landscape. The fajãs have
the appearance of flat surfaces on the sea, originating from the
collapse of cliffs or the oozing of lava from the cones of volcanoes.
Although they exist on almost every island, they are to be found
in their greatest numbers on the island of São Jorge, where there
are 46 fajãs in total, mostly situated at the bottom of high cliffs.
The island’s northern coast is a succession of 30 tiny
fajãs lying at the bottom of ravines hundreds of metres high.
Because of their singular appearance, the following are undoubtedly
the most notable: the Caldeira de Santo Cristo, with
an underwater cave and a lagoon; the Fajã dos Cubres,
with another absolutely crystalline lagoon, and the Fajã do
Ouvidor, its edges turned into pretty lacework by the sea.
It should be mentioned that the lagoon of the Caldeira de Santo
Cristo is the only place in the Azores where clams are to be found.
The fajãs are normally very fertile, although it required
a great effort over several centuries to cultivate them. The
recent abandonment of many of them now makes it possible to
enjoy some fascinating journeys back in time to discover the
houses, water-mills and springs used by the population that
lived there for centuries.
Parks and gardens
Some
of the beautiful parks and gardens in the Azores:
Parque Florestal das Sete Fontes - São Jorge
Parque Florestal Luís Paulo Camacho - Flores
Parque Florestal das Fontinhas - Santa Maria
Jardim da Praça República - São Jorge
Parque Florestal da Silveira - São Jorge
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