Sounds wonderful! I'll bet there were a lot of folks there to enjoy the evening.
Hi Char,
Yes, there were lots and lots of people, locals and tourists, entire families, some of them with their very elderly relatives as well. And the temperature was really nice and inviting to spend some time outside.
Tonight, in the Madeira Music Festival, which is the musical component of the Atlantic Festival, we're having a Piano Concert by the world famous Chinese/Canadian Avan Yu. He'll playing Chopin, Albéniz, Liszt and Stravinsky.
Ever since immemorial times, the Portuguese have been famous for being adventurous and easily fascinated by the unknown.
These characteristics originated countless expeditions from Portugal to the entire world, undertaken by courageous navigators. This lead to a lot of different land discoveries, which ended up being taken over by the Portuguese, thus spreading Portugal’s Empire and taking along our language, faith, culture and customs.
As a consequence, many parts of the world still have constructions built under our domain and which remained as a legacy, once the Portuguese left.
This year, the Government together with several other Portuguese institutions, nominated 27 of those ancient monuments and submitted them to a poll, with the finality of choosing “The 7 Portuguese Wonders in the World”.
Among the nominated were Forts, Churches, Convents, towns and so on, built on the 16th and 17th centuries, spread over 16 countries in 3 continents: Africa, Asia and America
Yesterday, June 10th, the day dedicated to Portugal, and the Portuguese Communities, the winners were revealed:
Diu Fort in India;
Mazagão Fort in Moroco;
Bom Jesus Basilica in Goa, India;
Santiago Old Town in Cape Verde;
Saint Paul Church in Macau, China;
Saint Francis of Assisi of Penance Convent in Ouro Preto, Brazil;
Saint Francis and Third Order Convent in São Salvador da Baía, Brazil.
The church in Monte was a beauty. We bought some lace from an old man outside the church. He let us take a photo of with him. He lived his entire life on Madeira and was very friendly. Although I cannot remember the name of the church, I remember climbing many steps to get there.
The Church you visited is Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte (Our Lady of Monte's Curch). It's well worth a visit for its architectonic features and interior decoration.
One of the reasons it's famous for, is the fact that it houses Austrian Emperor Karl I of Habsburg's coffin.
The Highest celebration in this church takes place on the 14th and 15th August, with a very popular religious feast.
Yes, those 74 steps are really impressive. Click here: File:Funchal Igreja do Monte.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Some believers climb them up on their knees when they need, or to thank, divine protection and help.
You don't have to, necessarily, walk up all those steps to get to the church, there is a car acess that leads you to very close to it.
It's down there, at the end of these steps, that you find the starting point of the Wicker Basket (Toboggan) Ride.
This has turned into such a fabulous thread, with wonderful information about Funchal. I had not visited it in a while, and I am so excited to see all the information here about this island that is being so graciously provided by biaria.
THANK YOU biaria! I am really enjoying reading each and very thing you are so nicely sharing with us about your home.
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Funchal - Madeira Island - Portugal
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