Roughly one third of the island’s 65,000 inhabitants live in or near Angra do Heroísmo, despite the devastation. Even very recent books and brochures show it to have been the most splendid city of the Azores, chock-a-block with fine churches, mansions and monuments, most of them dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, recalling the island’s former illustrious role as heart and capital of the whole archipelago. The sheltered harbour was the primary cause of Angra’s early greatness, protected by the great green peninsula of Monte Brasil jutting south into the empty Atlantic.
By 1634 Angra do Heroísmo had been deemed worthy of the islands’ first bishopric and merchants who derived their wealth from trade between Europe and the New World similarly made Angra do Heroísmo their base, building themselves homes to reflect their prosperity and contributing lavishly to the construction of churches and convents, partly, no doubt, to bolster their own self-esteem.
Indeed, Angra do Heroísmo remained capital of the Azores until 1832 when administrative changes separated the archipelago into three districts. Now it is merely the capital of the district comprising Terceira, Graciosa and São Jorge. And that proud epithet, ‘do Heroism’, bestowed on the city by Queen Maria II following the inhabitants’ heroic resistance to attack by Absolutist forces in 1829, was never more deserved than now, as Angra struggles to recover from 1980′s first cruel offering.
Built in a compact semi-circle round the natural harbour, the only city in the archipelago to have been planned in lay-out, Angra do Heroísmo slopes gently uphill away from the sea, dominated on the one hand by the Memória, the monument to Angra’s heroism, once an elegant tall stone pyramid forming a prominent local landmark, now just a heap of rubble. On the other hand by Monte Brash. To reach the high hilly peninsula of Monte Brasil, you have to pass through the solid defensive flanks of the Castelo de São Joao Bapitista, a 16th-century fortress which even defied the earthquake, where soldiers parade before the respectful eyes of grazing sheep.
From there a network of paths and metalled roads lead round the steep slopes through wild flowers, heather, gorse and trees to several magnificent viewpoints, north and east over the city, west towards São Mateus and south to the open sea. It is, unsurprisingly, a favourite picnic and recreation spot, especially to the south where the extinct crater opens into a deep crescent shape that catches the sun and excludes the wind. At the summit, Pico dos Cruzeiros (650 ft), there stands a tall cross marked ’1432′ to commemorate the discovery of the Azores. Tucked into the cliffs on the isthmus between Monte Brasil and the city is the Prainha, or ‘Little Beach’, with a sea-water swimming pool.
Across the shallow harbour from the Castelo de São Joao Baptista there’s another equally solid old fortress still standing despite the seismic shock, the 17th-century Castelo de Siio Sebastião (not open to the public) protecting the eastern flanks of the small port.
In Angra do Heroísmo itself, when the restoration work was complete, the scaffolding gone and building workers have removed their concrete mixers and sand hills, it is once again be possible to admire the Se, the 16th-century cathedral in the heart of town. The Jesuit Colegio church, its facade a masterpiece of baroque architecture, containing a rich treasury of religious works, the Igreja da Misericordia facing the bay beside the 16th-century Alrandega (customs house) at the bottom of Rua de Lisboa, the Palacio Betteneourt, a 17th-century palace now housing the town municipal library, government archives and the Regional Museum.
Despite everything, it’s still very possible to enjoy oneself in Angra do Heroísmo, drinking and dining in some of the archipelago’s best establishments, strolling through the magnificent gardens of Parque Conde de Terceira (behind the Hotel de Angra) and watching the heartening progress of determined islanders rebuilding their city.
