Água de Pena


Água de Pena is a civil parish in the municipality of Machico on the south-east coast of the Portuguese island of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 2,434, in an area of 5.15 km².

History

The area of Água de Pena was first sighted by the crew and explorers with João Gonçalves Zarco after he disembarked along the coastal spillway of Machico, likely around July 1419; the escarpment of Penedo overlook the beach of Machico, and the crew encamped in the shadow of the promontory overnight, before exploring the island the next day. Father Gaspar Frutuoso later recounted:
It was this second parish that made the discoverers call port on this ignored island. The Porto do Seixo was written into the history of the discoveries as the first locality visited by the discoverers on the second day of their exploration along the coast. But, it is unclear the origin of the parish's name; there are various hypothesises. Some indicate that the primitive name was actually Água de Penha and not Pena: a common mistake/corruption during the era. The use of penha is a better translation for the description recounted by Frutuoso, since the story indicated that the water sprang from a pebble or rock. A similar tale from the parishes early history also recounts that the parish's name "...was derived from a crystalline spring on the abandoned lands of Henrique Teixeira, who had many lands to the west of the village of Machico". Similarly, pena is the Portuguese word for feather, but it is also the Portuguese term for the moulding surfaces of an anvil, which was also inferred from the promontory on which the parish was built, which is also like an anvil.
The ecclesiastical parish, since its early settlement, has been referred to as Água de Pena, supported by older documents to that effect. Henrique Teixeira, second son of Tristão Vaz Teixeira, one of the Madeira's discoverers and first Captain-donatário of Machico, had many lands "linked with agriculture and for this reason was very wealthy, ennobling the village of Machico with many sugar cane machinery, as well as sugar cane fields, cattle and bread, and assemblies that he ordered cut and take advantage...". A historical genealogy of the Teixeiras, notes that Hirão Teixeira, grandson of Henrique Teixeira, settled, lived and died in Água de Pena, before being buried in the Chapel of Conceição in Machico.
Either in a pre-existent chapel, or one that was constructed, the new parish began function around 1561, under its first pastor, Father Tomé Gomes. The annual stipend for its clergy was a meager 9000 réis in 1572, and increased by 3000 réis ib 14 December 1588. By 5 February 1592, royal records indicated the annual salary was 19,000 réis, one moio and one pipa of wine. Other documents from the historical ombudsman of the archipelago, per mandate of the Council of Trade ordered the spending of 651,000 réis on expenses associated with quarrying rock and carpentry on the new church, and a secondary receipt for 4000000 réis for similar expenses to build the church in an area that was more "convenient and less windy". Local historians assume that the 1694 mandate was never executed, and that the 1745 expenses were actually a response to damages suffered in the 50-year span. The commercial businesses associated with the parish accounted for 3000 réis worth of income.
The principal vicar and governor, Bishop António Alfredo de Santa Catarina Braga, sent out a proclamation on 13 June 1836, to extinguishing the independent parish of Água de Pena and incorporating into grand parish of Santo da Serra e Água de Pena, with its seat in Água de Pena. This was an arbitrary and capriciousness act: Santo da Serra was a subsidiary of the parish of Machico, but the clergy did not reside in the parish, the annexation of Água de Pena to Santo da Serra, allowed the vicar to have residency in the appropriate parish. This did not last long, per law established on 24 June 1848, the old parish was re-established, but losing the locality of Achada do Barro and gaining Torre and Ventrecha.
In the past, its ocean-front position was served by a small port, with a rock/pebble beach, situated near the mouth of the ravine of the same name. In 1995, owing to the lengthening of the airport in Santa Catarina, the Calhau do Seixo was destroyed in order to construct a dyke to allow the construction of massive support pillars for the remodelled Madeira Airport.

Geography

Penned in by the parishes of Santa Cruz and Machico, Água da Pena was limited to the north by Machico and Santo da Serra, to the south by Santa Cruz, east by the Atlantic Ocean and west by Santa Cruz and Santo da Serra. It was originally divided between the municipalities of Santa Cruz and Machico: sections of Torre and Ventrecha and Bemposta, Lombo, Lugarinho, Igreja and Queimada in, until 1989. Thereafter, the parish of Água de Pena became an independent civil parish of Machico, being de-annexed from portions of Torre and Ventrecha.
It is approximately 2 kilometres from either villages of Santa Cruz and Machico, while it is 20 kilometres from the regional capital, Funchal.
The lands in the parish are irrigated by levadas, including the Levadas do Moinho da Serra, Levada Nova.

Economy

Its primary sector, both figuratively and economically, continues to be the agricultural sector, and the regions historical connection to the cultivation of sugar cane. In addition, banana, potato and sweet potato are annually harvested from the fields of Água de Pena. The secondary sector, revolves around tertiary activities, such as civil construction, restaurateurs, bakery shops, hospitality and automobile sales/service.

Architecture

Civic