The island of Santa Maria (Portuguese for Saint Mary) is an island located in the southeastern part of the Azores and is the southernmost island in the Azores Islands. It was the first island in the Azores Archipelago to be discovered. The discoverer of the island was Diogo Silves before returning for his journey to Madeira in 1427. Gonçalo Velho brought families and cattle to the island.

The area of the island is 97.18 km². The island contains one municipality and is named Vila do Porto and is the oldest Azorean villages. The island also has old houses whith windows that belonged to Capitão Donatário dating back to the 15th century.

Santa Maria is the only island in the Azores with great proportions of land that originates from sedimentaries where the marine fossils are founded.

The houses are spreaded by all the island for building of Alentejana houses with large chimneys. The land is very fertile and the rural landscape has a great beauty.

The island also produces arts, crafts, potteries and fish processing.

The island is divided into two regions:

• A flat very dry and sunshine-rich with the main town Vila do Porto (founded around 1430) and a civilian airport (It was an American air base until the Second World War).
• The other part are hilly. The highest point in the island is Pico Alto elevating at 590 m above sea level. The clouds hang themselves in the mountains provides the area for a rich vegetation and permits little agriculture.

The island of Flores was first mentioned in the 16th century after Santa Maria.

External link

(in German)

• azoren-online.com