Places in Madeira
Introduction
By Jorge Barbosa
Apr 21, 2007 - 10:22:53 PM

There are two types of division in Madeira. There is the political administrative division of the archipelago into municipalities ( conselhos) and its subdivision into civil parrishes ( freguesias). Geographically though, there are several divisions. Some inland, like the Laurisilva forest, and others parted by water. Madeira is surrounded by water: the atlantic sea divides the main island of Madeira from the only other inhabited island of Porto Santo and the uninhabited islands of the " Desertas" (in English the "Deserted" islands) and the very far away " Selvagens" (the "Savage" islands).

We won't go into any depth now with regards the uninhabitated islands. (Later on, we will dedicate special articles just for the Desertas and the Selvagens, including a very special centuries-old map we managed to acquire from off eBay).

Instead we will focus under our "places" category those areas inhabited at the moment. It is where most readers of these articles will have a chance to go. (Only very few, sometimes very special, voyages can be undertaken to the protected areas of the Desertas and the Selvagens).

But some places do not fall under the division of municipality or civil parrish. They are locales, like Cabo Girão (Cape Turnabout), that deserve their own special description. Some places stretch across over more than one politico-administrative division - like Paúl da Serra and then there are others that lie abroad where many Madeirans have emigrated to. But what about places in the heart?: those very special places we have come to admire or jealously wanted to keep secret (like the table at that special restaurant with the most fabulous views, or the never heard of before trout farm that David and Patricia have revived in Tabuá...).

Keep reading, and we'll let you in on it (maybe). But do keep on discovering about this wonderful isle of ours!














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