Madeira - a short history
Better late than never, right?. We three went to Madeira for a holiday with my mum and dad, and my brother James (his girlfriend Annabel could not make it due to her taking some exams). The back story of the trip is that my parents recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, and wanted to take us all to the island with which they have recently become smitten. This was exceedingly generous of them, and I once again thank them for their munificent gesture.
You've heard of Madeira, right? But you're not sure exactly where it is. That was pretty much what I thought when I received the invitation. So, being an inquisitive sort, I did some research. Here's what I found out.
Madeira is part of an archipelago of five main islands (the other four being Porto Santo, Deserta Grande Island, Selvagem Grande Island, and Selvagem Pequena Island. Of these, only Porto Santo is populated) - or twenty-five islands, if islets are counted - that are located around 350 miles of the North-East coast of Africa, and approximately 530 miles from Lisbon. This second distance is relevant because Madeira and it's sister islands are one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (the other being the Azores, which lie 500 miles to the South-East).
The existence of the archipelago was known about long before it was 're-discovered' by two Portuguese sea captains in 1419, who were blown there in their ships by a storm. The following year, an expedition set out from the mainland to populate the island.
The island of Madeira was created following a massive under-water volcanic eruption which started around five million years ago and mainly ceased 700,000. But the most recent larval splutterings took place as recently as 6,500 years ago.
Ilha da Madeira, the wooded island, first appeared on maps in 1433. This reflected the dense and rich vegetation found by the Portuguese. It took a little while to tame the island; early settlers diets were 50% fish-based, but before long wheat was being grown for export to the mainland. This crop was usurped by sugar cane, which was introduced at a time when sugar was rare in Europe, and therefore considered to be an expensive spice. Sugar production meant that up to 10% of the islands population consisted of slave labour during the 16th century. But in light of cheaper imports from other parts of the world, sugar production tailed off in the 17th century. Since then, the biggest manufactured export from the island has been Madeira Wine.
Between 1580 and 1640, King Phillip II of Spain claimed the vacant Portuguese thrown for himself, become Phillip I of Portugal. During the Napoleonic Wars, Madeira was occupied on a temporary basis by Britain to prevent the islands being captured by the French. A couple of years after the Carnation Revolution of 1974, Madeira was afforded political autonomy.
The climate is very pleasant. Both air and sea temperatures, influenced by the Gulf Stream, range from 17°C in the winter and 26°C during the summer. The climate and isolation have allowed a number of species of plants and animals to uniquely evolve here, including birds, lizards, butterflies and bats, as well as many examples in the flora category. On one of the Deserta islands can be found the largest tarantula in Europe - according to Wikipedia it can grow to the size of a 'normal man hand'.
To solve the problem of water scarcity on the south of the island, a network of levadas (mini-canals) have been constructed to bring in the plentiful fresh water from the north. The building of the lavadas started way back with the 16th century Portuguese, and the most recent was constructed in the 1940's. The 1,300 mile network of mountain-hugging aqua-highways offer level but precarious walking routes for locals and tourists alike.
Phew, that's a fair bit of writing. I'm going to look through the pictures we took now, and hopefully there are sufficient snaps to allow me to post a picture story later this week.
