Machico

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Machico
coat of arms map
Machico coat of arms
Machico (Madeira)
Machico
Basic data
Autonomous Region : Madeira
Concelho : Machico
Coordinates : 32 ° 43 ′  N , 16 ° 46 ′  W Coordinates: 32 ° 43 ′  N , 16 ° 46 ′  W
Residents: 11,256 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 17.49 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 644 inhabitants per km²
Height: 0  m
Machico district
flag map
Machico flag Location of the Machico district
Residents: 21,828 (as of June 30, 2011)
Surface: 68.33 km² (as of January 1, 2010)
Population density : 319 inhabitants per km²
Number of municipalities : 5
administration
Administration address: Câmara Municipal de Machico
Largo do Município
9200-099 Machico
President of the Câmara Municipal: Ricardo Miguel Nunes Franco ( PS )
Website: www.cm-machico.pt

Machico is a city in the east of the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira . It is the oldest place on the island .

history

In July 1419, the Portuguese explorers João Gonçalves Zarco , Tristão Vaz and Bartolomeu Perestrelo first set foot on Madeira Island in the Bay of Machico.

King D. João I distributed the land to his three deserving captains as part of the settlement of the island (1420-1425). Tristão Vaz was appointed captain of the eastern part of the island based in Machico, where his statue still stands today. Bartolomeu Perestrelo received the captaincy district of Porto Santo, and João Gonçalves Zarco received the southwest half of Madeira, which he administered from Funchal . The captains had far-reaching powers: They could levy taxes on land, sugar mills, ovens and salt and they were allowed to hand over fallow land to landlords at their own discretion. Machico soon developed into a center of sugar cane cultivation, but could not keep up with the metropolis of Funchal, where the most suitable soils for sugar cane were.

In 1494 only one fifth of the harvest came from the Machico legacy. When the Portuguese crown placed Madeira under the king's control in 1497, Funchal had long since overtaken its competitor economically.

Machico was granted city rights on August 2, 1996, making it the second largest city on the island.

Attractions

In Machico there are Madeira's oldest church, the Capela dos Milagres , the parish church (15th century) in the center and the São Roque chapel near the hotel with its famous tile paintings.
There is a local history museum in the Solar do Ribeirinho , a restored manor house on Rua do Ribeirinho. The São João Baptista Fort was built in the 18th century.

tourism

Machico has a hotel, several guest houses and numerous restaurants. The traditional dishes that are offered in good restaurants include, for example, the sopa de trigo, a wheat soup, the carne de vinho e alhos , pieces of meat marinated in wine and garlic and the bolo de caco , a flatbread baked on a hot stone (caco) , which is often served warm as a starter with a garlic butter spread. The traditional machico dishes are very tasty.

Since 2009 there has been an artificially created sandy beach , a rarity on the island (otherwise only in Calheta ). The sand was imported from Morocco. At low tide , black sand appears on the adjacent pebble beach.

Madeira Airport with its spectacular taxiway built on concrete piles is located on the slope of the cliff near Machico . The space between the concrete piles under the runway has meanwhile been converted into a sports and leisure center ("Parque Desportivo Água de Pena") for tennis, squash, badminton, handball, jogging etc. in the area belonging to Machico.

To the east of Machico is the Pico do Facho viewpoint (322 m above sea level). From here the view extends over the runway of Santa Catarina Airport in the west and the bay of Machico over the town of Caniçal to the eastern tip of Madeira, the promontory of Ponta de São Lourenço .

  • Machico with Santa Catarina Airport

  • View of the Machico transport hub

  • View of the beach promenade with the forum

  • Machico Marina

  • Monument to Tristão Vaz Teixeira

  • Chapel of the Lord of Miracles

  • Monument to the founders of Machico

  • View of the beach and the port, in the background the Ponta de São Lourenço

administration

Machico district

Machico district
local community Population
(2011) 		Area
km² 		Density of
population / km² 		LAU
code
Água de Pena 2,434 5.15 473 310401
Caniçal 3,924 11.85 331 310402
Machico 11,256 17.49 644 310403
Porto da Cruz 2,597 25.22 103 310404
Santo Antonio da Serra 1,617 8.62 188 310405
Machico district 21,828 68.33 319 3104
Atlantic Ocean
Santana Neighboring communities Atlantic Ocean
Santa Cruz

Population development

Population in Machico County (1849–2011)
1849 1900 1930 1960 1981 1991 2001 2011
5,491 11,820 17,936 21,606 22,126 22,016 21,747 21,803

Municipal holiday

  • 9th October

Town twinning

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Commons : Machico  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Machico  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística
  2. ↑ a b Overview of code assignments from Freguesias on epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
  3. ↑ www.ine.pt - indicator resident population by place of residence and sex; Decennial in the database of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística