Vila Franca

Vila Franca is a town on the southern part of the island of Sao Miguel. When we were on the island 5 years ago, we drove through this town but didn’t stop to explore it. So today, we looked forward to visiting it.

This was the first capital of the island but that changed after an earthquake and huge landslide destroyed the city in 1522.

The town prospered though from the 18th century onwards from orange plantations, and later, from pineapple production. Today, it is a bustling town (5,000 people) filled with life, being one of the larger municipalities on the island. At present, there is a lot of work being done on renovating old houses. Everywhere we walked we could see and hear people working on buildings.

We went down to the sea front and walked on the malecon. One of the most unique things about Vila Franca is the small island off the shore. It is shaped like a crescent moon and is actually a volcano with a crater, that fills up with ocean water from one side.

During the summer, boats go to the Natural Park there, but in the winter boats just go around it. We didn’t do this. Maybe another time. Every year since 2009, the famous Red Bull Cliff Diving athletes come to the Azores to jump from the top of the tower cliff (27 m high) that you can see on one side of the island and perform impressive acrobatics.

In most of the harbour towns we have been in, we have seen lots of boats but not working fishing boats. We wondered where the fishing villages were. Well, Vila Franco has a whole area full of boats with nets and fishing apparatus. Fishermen were actually working on their boats when we walked on the piers.

We also enjoyed spotting the remains of the old 18th Century fort while we were in the marina. Actually the ramparts seemed to go along the whole shoreline, quite a distance.

A pottery studio was open so we visited it for awhile. More about that later.

Vila Franca must be quite the tourist area in the summer as there are numerous hotels, parks, whale watching and fishing boats, restaurants and even a big water park. But today it was a quiet and lovely place to go for a walk. We would go back.

We drove 18 km to the other side of the island to the Gorreana Tea Plantation to check out their tea farm and processing plant before heading back to the horse farm. Another great day on Sao Miguel.Read more