Along the north coast, even more precipitous than the south, the only two villages of any size are Norte Grande and Norte Pequeno, but they are mere distractions amid the magnificent scenery – mountains plunging sheer into the sea with breakers crashing soundlessly at their feet. The south coast, by comparison, has several tiny coves (no beaches as such) where islanders have managed to build their homes and terraces up the steep hillsides.
Starting at the south-eastern tip of the São Jorge island at the little port of Topo (literally ‘Summit’ or ‘Top End’, which seems somehow wrong for the lowest, i.e. most southerly, village in the island) the road snakes up towards Calheta through high pastures and flowery meadows to Santo Ando, crossing cascading rivers and waterfalls and climbing almost to the top of the southern ridge, Serra do Topo.
Calheta itself lies on the coast below the main road, second largest town after Velas, with one or two handsome old houses and a small port where fishermen land their catches for delivery to the canning factory nearby. Between Calheta and Velas, one other village worthy of mention is Urzelina, destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1802, and so dating mostly from the last century, you can still see the original church tower rising from the petrified lava which buried the rest of the community.
