Capelo
Encyclopedia
Capelo is a civil parish
in the municipality
of Horta
on the island of Faial
in the Azorean
archipelago. The population as of 2001 was approximately 493, its density is 19/km² and the area is 25.93 km². Mountainous volcanic craters cover the majority of the parish (being the location of the most recent volcanic eruption in the Azores), and pasturelands dominate the rest.
. Friar
Diogo das Chagas
, in 1643, noted that the parish had about 160 inhabitants, and approximately 44 residences. At its largest, the population reached 1,400 inhabitants.
The town was practically destroyed in 1672 and 1673 during the volcanic eruption of Cabeço de Fogo (the name of the central volcano on the island of Faial). During this eruption, volcanic ash
and pyroclastic
projectiles
rained down on the community, destroying homes and sterilizing agricultural lands in Capelo and Praia do Norte
. Ironically, between 1673 and 1845, Praia do Norte was integrated into the civil parish of Capelo.
The Church of the Santissima Trinidade (Holy Trinity) in Capelo, was ordered constructed by the Captain-major, Jorge Goulart Pimental, to replace the parochial church destroyed during the 1672 eruption (Church of Nossa Senhora da Esperança). A chapel to Nossa Senhora da Esperança (Our Lady of Hope) was later constructed near the old church (which has since disappeared from the landscape).
The chapel of Varadouro is founded in 1720, by Father Manuel Pereira Cardoso, in the name of Nossa Senhora do Carmo. Later, in his 1725 last testament, Father Cardoso requested that his inheritors celebrate a mass in perpetuity to the name Nossa Senhora do Carmo, the Holy Sacrament, and Santo António, on every first Sunday of October. The spa at Varadouro was constructed and inaugurated on August 1, 1954 by architect Read Teixeira.
The parish is located on layers of volcanic materials referred to as the Capelo Volcanic Complex. It is a line of volcanic escoria
cones of fissural nature lying on a west-northwest-east-southeast orientation consisting of basalt
ic volcanism of low explosivity. The peninsula shows varying volcanic shapes and products resulting from surtseyan
, Hawaiian
and strombolian
phases of volcanism. It is area of young rock (less than 10.000 years), overlying the older pyroclasts of the Caldeira Formation, and includes two historical eruptions (the 1672 Cabeço do Fogo and 1957 Capelinhos
eruptions). This fractural zone is defined by the Capelo Fault, a fracture system of cones and craters displaying right lateral echelon geometry, which extends to Capelinhos volcano in the western tip of Faial. In this particular area, Capelo Fault is expressed by tens of sub-vertical fractures, concentrated in a 250 meter wide zone, cutting through the pyroclastic sequence of a surtseyan cone exposed in a paleo-sea cliff east of Capelinhos volcano. An example of these fractures can be found on the surface of the Capelinhos volcano; a warm vent on its eastern flank belies the active nature of this volcanism.
In addition, two major protected areas fall within the frontiers of the parish:
Further, and also included in the Capelinhos-Nordoeste-Varadouro region is the Parque Florestal do Capelo (Forest Park of Capelo), a region that extends from the central Capelos cape to the coast between Biscoitos and Varadouro used as leisure/recreative forest park.
Meanwhile, owing to the numerous natural monuments in the region (the aforementioned Capelinhos volcano and protected areas), the region regularly sees strong eco-tourism activities throughout the year, with rural tourism, pedestrian trails and other leisure activities dominating the areas of Capelo and Varadouro.
The southern coast is considered the "spa region" of the island, dominated by an attractive bay and the black rock cliffs of Varadouro and Mouro volcanic plug. Discovered in 1889, the warm waters at Varadouro were considered, at the time, one of the best medicinal treatments in the country for the treatment of rheumatism
and skin diseases; its hypersaline waters at a temperature of 35.5°C (96°F), attracted "beachgoers" who travelled to ocean-carved pools for refreshment during the Guilded Age
, while partaking of the thermal waters of the spa.
Since this period the use of the thermal waters has been intermittent, during phases of proactive local governments, and around the late 20th century the buildings were in ruins. Plans to rejuvenate the area economically have concentrated on reconstructing the buildings, but in November 2007 these plans were suspended, in order to redevelop the site to include a Hotel-Spa facility. In 2009, along with INOVA, a new project to revitalize the thermal-spa potentiality of the Azores (called TERMAZ) projected a reconstruction of the Varadouro thermal spa buildings: a project that was stalled by 2011. Amid opposition declarations to indicate a timeline for the reconstruction of the spa, by 2011, the Regional indicated their intention to expropriate lands necessary to "re-qualify and reactivate" the Thermae of Varadouro (suggestinga that only 10% had not been acquired).
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
in the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
of Horta
Horta (Azores)
Horta is a single municipality and city in the western part of the Archipealgo of the Azores, encompassing the island of Faial. Horta has a population of about approximately 15,038 people and an area of 173.1 square kilometers. The population density is about 88 persons per square kilometer...
on the island of Faial
Faial Island
Faial Island , also known in English as Fayal, is a Portuguese island of the Central Group of the Azores....
in the Azorean
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
archipelago. The population as of 2001 was approximately 493, its density is 19/km² and the area is 25.93 km². Mountainous volcanic craters cover the majority of the parish (being the location of the most recent volcanic eruption in the Azores), and pasturelands dominate the rest.
History
The village was elevated to civil parish in 1600, when it was de-anexed from the neighboring parish of Praia do NortePraia do Norte
Praia do Norte is a civil parish of the municipality of Horta, located along the northern coast between Cedros and Capelo, on the island of Faial, Azores. It is one of the least populous parishes on the island, reaching 712 inhabitants in the 18th century, but generally about 250 people. It is...
. Friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
Diogo das Chagas
Diogo das Chagas
Diogo das Chagas was a Franciscan monk and Azorean historian, author of Espelho Cristalino, an important resource on the colonization of the islands of the central and western groups of the Portuguese Azores, after 1640.-Biography:He was the son of Mateus Coelho da Costa, Captain-major of the...
, in 1643, noted that the parish had about 160 inhabitants, and approximately 44 residences. At its largest, the population reached 1,400 inhabitants.
The town was practically destroyed in 1672 and 1673 during the volcanic eruption of Cabeço de Fogo (the name of the central volcano on the island of Faial). During this eruption, volcanic ash
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...
and pyroclastic
Pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving current of superheated gas and rock , which reaches speeds moving away from a volcano of up to 700 km/h . The flows normally hug the ground and travel downhill, or spread laterally under gravity...
projectiles
Tephra
200px|thumb|right|Tephra horizons in south-central [[Iceland]]. The thick and light coloured layer at center of the photo is [[rhyolitic]] tephra from [[Hekla]]....
rained down on the community, destroying homes and sterilizing agricultural lands in Capelo and Praia do Norte
Praia do Norte
Praia do Norte is a civil parish of the municipality of Horta, located along the northern coast between Cedros and Capelo, on the island of Faial, Azores. It is one of the least populous parishes on the island, reaching 712 inhabitants in the 18th century, but generally about 250 people. It is...
. Ironically, between 1673 and 1845, Praia do Norte was integrated into the civil parish of Capelo.
The Church of the Santissima Trinidade (Holy Trinity) in Capelo, was ordered constructed by the Captain-major, Jorge Goulart Pimental, to replace the parochial church destroyed during the 1672 eruption (Church of Nossa Senhora da Esperança). A chapel to Nossa Senhora da Esperança (Our Lady of Hope) was later constructed near the old church (which has since disappeared from the landscape).
The chapel of Varadouro is founded in 1720, by Father Manuel Pereira Cardoso, in the name of Nossa Senhora do Carmo. Later, in his 1725 last testament, Father Cardoso requested that his inheritors celebrate a mass in perpetuity to the name Nossa Senhora do Carmo, the Holy Sacrament, and Santo António, on every first Sunday of October. The spa at Varadouro was constructed and inaugurated on August 1, 1954 by architect Read Teixeira.
Geography
Physical geography
The parish has several facets: an area of volcanic craters that extends from the islands caldera, inland pasturelands used to support the agricultural/dairy industry, and a coastal zone of cottages and oceanfront pools. Linking these areas is the ubiquitous Regional Road E.R. 1-1ª that connects the communities on the island with Horta in the southeast corner.The parish is located on layers of volcanic materials referred to as the Capelo Volcanic Complex. It is a line of volcanic escoria
Escoria
Jose Ibarra is a Mexican Luchador who is best known as Escoria / Dark Escoria , a face character that works for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración . Ibarra has been part of The Black Family since it was formed, but left the stable in October 2010...
cones of fissural nature lying on a west-northwest-east-southeast orientation consisting of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
ic volcanism of low explosivity. The peninsula shows varying volcanic shapes and products resulting from surtseyan
Surtseyan eruption
A Surtseyan eruption is a type of volcanic eruption that takes place in shallow seas or lakes. It is named after the island of Surtsey off the southern coast of Iceland....
, Hawaiian
Hawaiian eruption
A Hawaiian eruption is a type of volcanic eruption where lava flows from the vent in a relative gentle, low level eruption, so called because it is characteristic of Hawaiian volcanoes. Typically they are effusive eruptions, with basaltic magmas of low viscosity, low content of gases, and high...
and strombolian
Strombolian eruption
Strombolian eruptions are relatively low-level volcanic eruptions, named after the Italian volcano Stromboli, where such eruptions consist of ejection of incandescent cinder, lapilli and lava bombs to altitudes of tens to hundreds of meters...
phases of volcanism. It is area of young rock (less than 10.000 years), overlying the older pyroclasts of the Caldeira Formation, and includes two historical eruptions (the 1672 Cabeço do Fogo and 1957 Capelinhos
Capelinhos
The Capelinhos is a monogenetic volcano located on the western coast of the island of Faial in the Azores. It is part of the larger Volcanic Complex of Capelo, that includes 20 escoria cones and lava fields that are aligned west-northwest to east-southeast from the Cabeço Gordo caldera...
eruptions). This fractural zone is defined by the Capelo Fault, a fracture system of cones and craters displaying right lateral echelon geometry, which extends to Capelinhos volcano in the western tip of Faial. In this particular area, Capelo Fault is expressed by tens of sub-vertical fractures, concentrated in a 250 meter wide zone, cutting through the pyroclastic sequence of a surtseyan cone exposed in a paleo-sea cliff east of Capelinhos volcano. An example of these fractures can be found on the surface of the Capelinhos volcano; a warm vent on its eastern flank belies the active nature of this volcanism.
Ecoregions/Protected areas
The parish is crossed by several pedestrian hiking trails connecting the volcanic cones along the Capelo Volcanic Complex: Cabeço do Fogo, Cabeço Verde and Cabeço do Canto, as well as interesting geological sites such as Fonte dos Namorados. Capelo is also known for its micro-climate, which has allowed the cultivation of grapes and small wine production. The areas along Canada das Adegas (in Norte Pequeno) and Varadouro are characteristic of these private holdings and "adegas".In addition, two major protected areas fall within the frontiers of the parish:
- Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies dos Capelinhos, Costa Noroeste e Varadouro (Protected Area of Capelinhos, Northwest Coast and Varadouro) - the protected area encompasses many of the extinct cones of Cabeço Verde, Cabeço da Fonte, Caldeirão, Cabeço do Canto and Caldeirinhas along the Capelo cape until Cabeço do Goularte, flanking of the central caldera. The protected area, designated for the protection of habitats and species includes pre-existing environments and the nascent ecosystems of the volcanic structures of Capelo, as well as the fragile ecoregion created by the CapelinhosCapelinhosThe Capelinhos is a monogenetic volcano located on the western coast of the island of Faial in the Azores. It is part of the larger Volcanic Complex of Capelo, that includes 20 escoria cones and lava fields that are aligned west-northwest to east-southeast from the Cabeço Gordo caldera...
eruption; - Área Protegida de Gestão de Recursos dos Capelinhos, includes primarily the impact area of the CapelinhosCapelinhosThe Capelinhos is a monogenetic volcano located on the western coast of the island of Faial in the Azores. It is part of the larger Volcanic Complex of Capelo, that includes 20 escoria cones and lava fields that are aligned west-northwest to east-southeast from the Cabeço Gordo caldera...
eruption that extends from the Estrada Regional E.R.1-1ª to the Costa do Nau coast and Capelinhos volcano. This area, primarily identifiable by the barren moonscape and iconic lighthouse were designated for protection and management, and conserves the post-eruption landscape, interdicting reconstruction of homes lost during the event. In addition to the Costa do Nau, the protected area extends to the coast and ocean territory off the coast, surround the base of the volcano; - Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies Varadouro–Castelo Branco (Protected Area of Varadouro-Castelo Branco) - this protected area includes the escarpment face of the southern coast, extending from Varadouro to the Morro de Castelo Branco, which are nesting grounds for migratory and marine bird species;
Further, and also included in the Capelinhos-Nordoeste-Varadouro region is the Parque Florestal do Capelo (Forest Park of Capelo), a region that extends from the central Capelos cape to the coast between Biscoitos and Varadouro used as leisure/recreative forest park.
Human geography
In addition to the village of Capelo, at the intersection of the E.R.1-1ª and and E.R.3-2ª, the parish includes the localities of Arreiro, Ribeira do Cabo, Norte Pequeno and Varadouro.Economy
The economy in this region is primarily agriculture, with dairy-oriented pursuits by the local economy pre-dominating the local activities in the parish.Meanwhile, owing to the numerous natural monuments in the region (the aforementioned Capelinhos volcano and protected areas), the region regularly sees strong eco-tourism activities throughout the year, with rural tourism, pedestrian trails and other leisure activities dominating the areas of Capelo and Varadouro.
The southern coast is considered the "spa region" of the island, dominated by an attractive bay and the black rock cliffs of Varadouro and Mouro volcanic plug. Discovered in 1889, the warm waters at Varadouro were considered, at the time, one of the best medicinal treatments in the country for the treatment of rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
and skin diseases; its hypersaline waters at a temperature of 35.5°C (96°F), attracted "beachgoers" who travelled to ocean-carved pools for refreshment during the Guilded Age
Guilded Age
Guilded Age is a fantasy webcomic about five heroes who have come together to work for a common goal: three squares and a warm bed. There's conflict between warring coalitions based on centuries-old feuds, but the writers claim they intend to "try to focus on what's important." The comic is the...
, while partaking of the thermal waters of the spa.
Since this period the use of the thermal waters has been intermittent, during phases of proactive local governments, and around the late 20th century the buildings were in ruins. Plans to rejuvenate the area economically have concentrated on reconstructing the buildings, but in November 2007 these plans were suspended, in order to redevelop the site to include a Hotel-Spa facility. In 2009, along with INOVA, a new project to revitalize the thermal-spa potentiality of the Azores (called TERMAZ) projected a reconstruction of the Varadouro thermal spa buildings: a project that was stalled by 2011. Amid opposition declarations to indicate a timeline for the reconstruction of the spa, by 2011, the Regional indicated their intention to expropriate lands necessary to "re-qualify and reactivate" the Thermae of Varadouro (suggestinga that only 10% had not been acquired).
Civic
- Varadouro Thermal Spa
- Geological Museum of the Volcano
- Interpretative Center of the Capelinhos Volcano (including the Capelinhos lighthouse)
- Capelo Handicrafts School
Religious
- Church of Nossa Senhora da Esperança
- Church of Santissima Trinidade
- Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Carmo