Sao Vicente, Madeira

Description

Sao Vicente is regarded as the prettiest village in Madeira, which boasts spectacular views of this unique island. Sao Vicente has retained it traditional look with its white painted houses and red roofs. The village is small and quaint with a few shops, cafes, bars and good. quality restaurants. It is here you can mingle with the friendly locals. Sao Vicente’s pebble beach is very popular for surfing because the sea is renowned to be rough, making it an ideal surfers paradise. The location of Sao Vicente offers easy access for the great Levades walks.

At the edge of the village directly next to the sea lies a great boulder, into which the famous São Vicente chapel was built.
The council of São Vicente consists of three parishes Sao. Vicente, Ponta Delgada and Boaventura. A visit through this council showss a distinct cultural patrimony left by all those who helped to increase these three parishes that it encompasses.

The majority of the rustic manor houses date back to the XVIII century,during the time of economic relief and comfort, due to the good fortunes of viticulture. These huge houses were very extravagant and were built on two levels. On the first floor there was a winepress, the agricultural implements and all the products of the harvests were stored here. The noble part of the house was all on the second level and the access to it was made via an outdoor staircase.

Sao Vicente is probably most famous for its volcanically formed caves and you can spend a day here walking through the caves and examining the rock formation for yourself. These caves were formed over 400,000 years ago and these are one of madeirs biggest tourist attraction. Alternatively if you prefer not to participate then why not visit The Sao Vicente Cave Pavilion where there is a an audiovisual show which recreates the geological origins of the caves and of course shows the whole history of Madeira and how it was formed.