Altares
Template:Geobox Altares is a civil parish in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo on the Portuguese island of Terceira in the archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 901,[1] in an area of 28.22 km².[2]
History
Situated on relatively flat land with fertile soils, although situated far from major population centres, the region of was settled early, sometime before the year 1480.[3] Owing to the clearing and logging that proceeded along the territory, and from the agrarian structure and morphology of the land, settlement must have progressed from east to west, until the parish of Raminho (which was the last to be settled).[3]
The word, "Altares", is a contraction of the words, Altos Ares, meaning "mountain breezes".
Geography
The parish is located in the northwestern part of the island, about 19 kilometres from the city of Angra do Heroísmo. It is bounded on the east by the parish of Biscoitos, which belongs to the municipality of Praia da Vitória, on the west by the parish of Raminho, on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south and southwest by the caldera of the Santa Bárbara volcano and by the parish also called Santa Bárbara.
Altares is located along the northern flanks of the Serra de Santa Bárbara massif, extending from the northern and western edges of the caldera of Santa Barbara volcano to the seaside cliffs on the north coast of the island. Topographically, the civil parish is bounded on the east by the course of the Ribeira do Pamplona (Pamplona Ravine), which also serves as the border to the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, and on the west by a line drawn from the 827 metres (2,713 ft) summit of Pico Rachado to the sea. This line follows the course of the Ribeira dos Gatos (Ravine of the Cats), but then it diverts to the west to include the hamlet of Cerro da Ribeira dos Gatos, a ridge of hills and miscellaneous buildings.
The territory of the parish rises gradually from the coast, first as a relatively gentle slope, but at an increasingly rugged grade as one approaches the heights of the Serra de Santa Bárbara, where five streams have their sources: the Riberia dos Gatos, the Ribeira de São Roque, the Ribeira das Lajinhas, the Ribeira da Lapa, and the Ribeira do Pamplona. Although crossed by various river courses, the parish is actually poor in hydrographic resources, since surface water is intermittent. In fact, ravine water is primarily from intense precipitation in the foothills, lasting a short time normally.[4] This was not the case during the period of early colonization, since the forest and tuber vegetation would regulate waterflow, resulting in light continuously flowing streams throughout the year.[4] From east to west, the following ravines are the primarily affluent in the parish:
- Ribeira do Pamplona, apart from delimiting the parish, it also the frontier of Angra do Heroísmo;
- Ribeira de Lapa, one of the more intensely flowing watercourses;
- Ribeira da Luz;
- Ribeira de São Roque, alongside the parochial church (in the centre of the parish), and to its left the Ribeira das Lajinhas;
- Ribeira dos Gatos
Architecture
- Church of São Roque ([Igreja Paroquial de Altares/Igreja de São Roque] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), the parochial single-nave church, dedicated to Saint Roch, was completed in the 15th century, and is located on an elevated terrain occupied along with the parochial school, Museu Etnográfico dos Altares, with an important collection of instruments associated with agriculture and traditional Azorean activities (including exhibition of flora, fauna and ecologia of Terceira).[5]
- Império of the Holy Spirit of Altares ([Império do Espírito Santo de Altares] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |links= (help)), dating to the early 20th century, the single-room rectangular building is used the festivals associated the Cult of the Holy Spirit held annually by the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit; it is a highly decorated facade with three gothic-style windows and door, and triangular frontispiece, but also includes annex when the events of the festivals extends.[6]
References
- ^ Instituto Nacional de Estatística
- ^ Eurostat
- ^ a b Junta Freguesia, ed. (2011), A Freguesia (in Portuguese), Angra do Heroísmo (Azores), Portugal: Junta Freguesia de Altares, retrieved 3 October 2012
- ^ a b Junta Freguesia, ed. (2011). "A Freguesia" (in Portuguese). Altares (Angra do Heroísmo), Portugal: Junta Freguesia de Altares. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ Noé, Paula (2010), SIPA (ed.), Igreja Paroquial de Altares/Igreja de São Roque (PT071901010058) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, retrieved 4 October 2012
- ^ Noé, Paula (2012), SIPA (ed.), Império do Espírito Santo de Altares (PT071901010075) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, retrieved 4 October 2012
