Madeira,Portugal-Trip

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wikipedia:
Madeira was re-discovered by Portuguese sailors in the service of Infante D. Henrique (Henry the Navigator) in 1419, and settled after 1420. The archipelago is considered to be the first territorial discovery of the exploratory period of the Portuguese Age of Discovery.

Today, it is a popular year-round resort, noted for its Madeira wine, flowers, and embroidery artisans, as well for its annual New Years celebrations that feature a spectacular fireworks show (considered the largest in the world according to the Guinness World Records).[4] The main harbour in Funchal is an important stopover for commercial and trans-Atlantic passenger cruises between Europe, the Caribbean and North America.

Madeira is currently the richest region in Portugal, with a GDP per capita of 110% of the European average.[5]Pliny mentioned certain "Purple Islands", their position corresponding to the location of the Fortunate Isles (or Canary Islands), that may have referred to islands of Madeira. Plutarch (Sertorius, 75 AD) referring to the military commander Quintus Sertorius (d. 72 BC), relates that after his return to Cádiz: "...The islands are said to be two in number separated by a very narrow strait and lie 10,000 furlongs from Africa. They are called the Isles of the Blessed"

The estimated distance from Africa (2,000 kilometres/1,250 miles), and the closeness of the two islands, seem to describe the similar position of the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo.
[edit] Legend

There was also a romantic tale of two lovers, Robert Machim and Anna d'Arfet, during the reign of King Edward III of England, who, fleeing from England to France in 1346, were driven off their course by a violent storm. Their ship crashed along the coast of an island, that may have been Madeira; later, this story would be used in the naming of Machico, whose name was transliterated from the name of the boy in the tale, in memory of the young lovers.[6]
[edit] Discovery
Statue of João Gonçalves Zarco.

Much like the Azores, it is clear that some knowledge of Atlantic islands, such as Madeira, existed before the discovery and settlement of these lands, as the islands appear on maps as early as 1339.[7] From a portolan dating to 1351, and preserved in Florence, Italy, it would appear that the islands of Madeira had been discovered, long before Portuguese vessels rediscovered them in the "official" timeline. In Libro del Conocimiento (1348--1349), a Spanish monk also identified the location of the islands in its present location, with the names Leiname, Diserta and Puerto Santo.

Officially, in 1418, two captains under service to Prince Henry the Navigator, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven off-course by a storm to an island which they named Porto Santo (English: holy harbour); the name was bestowed for their gratitude and divine deliverance from a possible shipwreck by the protected anchorage. The following year, an organized expedition, under the captaincy of Zarco and Vaz Teixeira, was sent to this new land, and along with captain Bartolomeu Perestrello, to take possession of the island on behalf of the Portuguese crown. Consequently, the new settlers discovered "a heavy black cloud suspended to the southwest",[8] which when explored they discovered the larger island of Madeira.[9]

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• madeira
• funchal
• santana
• portugal
• tourism
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• summer