Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Funchal

Encyclopedia : F : FU : FUN : Funchal


Coat of arms Flag
Funchal's coat of arms Funchal's flag
Map
Map not yet
available
Statistics
Region: Madeira Islands
District: Madeira Island
Population: 103,962 2001
Area: 76.25 km²
Density 1,363.44/km²
Altitude: Lowest and Centre: Atlantic Ocean
Highest: about 1,400 m (northwest)
Number of parishes: 10
Funchal (pron. IPA [fũ'ʃaɫ]), population approximately 110,000 (1991), is the capital of the Madeira Islands of Portugal. Funchal is also the largest city on the islands and is ranked after Câmara de Lobos and Machico. It was founded by João Gonçalves Zarco in 1421 and was elevated to city by King Manuel I in 1508.

The city is named after fennel, ('funcho' in Portuguese), which grows in abundance on the island.

Funchal is passed with a main road linking to both parts of the island and another road linking north to Faial and Santana. Funchal is located 21 km south of Faial, about 25 km S of Santana, 17 km SW of Machico, about 7 km E of Câmara de Lobos and about 37 km ESE of Calheta.

Part of Funchal Municipality is Ilhas Selvagens (Savage Islands and Desertas Islands), two nature reserve islands 160 km (100 mi) South of Funchal.

Funchal is bypassed by Madeira's only superhighway to the north east and northwest which accesses to Santa Cruz, the Madeira airport and Câmara de Lobos.

Location:

Parishes

Here are the ten boroughs of Funchal: A crater named Funchal is founded on planet Mars.

History

Funchal
Enlarge
Funchal

In the early 1400s, Alvaro Fernandes was the commander of Funchal.

In the 16th century Funchal was important as a stopping place between the Indies and the New World, and was known as a wealthy place. It was also the port for Madeiran sugar and wine.

Some Navy ships including USS Arkansas, USS Chicago, USS John Hancock, USS Salem, CSS Shenandoah, USS Shenandoah, USS Yorktown'' visited the port.

Funchal hosted the Funchal Island Tournament in 1981 with Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama of the Brazilian League.

Image:Funchal_Mercado.jpg|Mercado dos Lavradores Image:Sé church Funchal.jpg|Kathedrale Image:MadeiraWinery.jpg|Madeira Wine Lodge Image:Casino_funchal_hg.jpg|Casino

Postage stamps

25 reis, 1892, used in 1894; an "S." is visible for the town name.
Enlarge
25 reis, 1892, used in 1894; an "S." is visible for the town name.

Between 1892 and 1905, Portugal issued postage stamps inscribed "Funchal", but then reverted to the stamps of Madeira.

Persons

External links





North: Santana Northeast: Machico
West: Câmara de Lobos
Funchal East: Santa Cruz
South: Atlantic Ocean


 
Municipalities of the Madeira Autonomous Region

Madeira Island: Calheta | Câmara de Lobos | Funchal | Machico | Ponta do Sol | Porto Moniz | Ribeira Brava | Santa Cruz | Santana | São Vicente | Porto Santo Island: Porto Santo | Desert Islands (Desertas) | Savage Islands (Selvagens)

 


From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: