Candelária (Madalena)


Candelária is a civil parish located on the western coast of the island of Pico, in the municipality of Madalena in the Azores. The population in 2011 was 822, in an area of 29.70 km². It contains the localities Biscoitos, Campo Raso, Candelária, Canada das Adegas, Canada Negra, Canto, Eira, Fogos, Guindaste, Mirateca, Monte, Pedras, Pocinho, Porto de Ana Clara, Porto do Calhau and São Nuno.

History

This was the birthplace of the late cardinal José da Costa Nunes.

Geography

Linked by the Regional E.R.1-1ª roadway to the parishes of Criação Velha and São Caetano, the parish is primarily a coastal agricultural community. From the coast, for about, the parish comprises cultivatable lands and settlements, which starts sloping into higher altitudes, reaching its extreme at Ponta do Pico; the parish is basically a pie-shaped wedge, with at its extreme, along the coast. Settled areas are divided equally between hedge-row-divided parcels and forested patches of land, with scrub and natural vegetation occupying higher altitudes.
In addition to central Candelária there are smaller hamlets within the borders that follow the regional roadway, such as: Monte, Mirateca and Campo Raso.

Architecture

Religious