Terceira Island (Ilha
Terceira, ) is an island in the Azores, in the middle of the North Atlantic
Ocean
, with an area of 396.75 km². The
island's length is 29 km and the width is 18 km; the
perimeter is 90 km. Population is 54,996, down from a peak of
59,000. Population density is 140.73/km².
Terceira’s coast is dotted with quaint fishing towns, beaches and
lava rocks. To the north are both a rocky coast and a mix of forest
and vineyards. To the South are cattle grazing lands and the
coastal area surrounding Angra, with its parks and hotels. The wide
bay and beach at the pretty town of Praia da Vitória are well worth
a visit, as is the lake at Caldeira de Guilherme Moniz, which is
the largest body of water in the Azores other than the ocean.
Away from the coast, Terceira is a wild and hilly landscape perfect
for walking or hiking. Much of the interior of the island is a
nature reserve. From the heights of the Serra do Cume, a visitor
can look down on a patchwork of small farms, stonewalls and grazing
cattle.
Terceira is also the site of more than 230 traditional bullfights
throughout the summer. Every weekend from April to late fall the
people of Terceira hold touradas à corda – a form of “running of
the bulls.” The bull is let loose from the town’s main square with
a very long rope around its neck. The idea is that courageous
people will try to get as close to a bull as they dare. After the
excitement, the bull is taken back to the wooden crate and an
outdoor festival begins. This kind of event is found only in the
Azores and has been popular here since 16th Century.
Sometimes in the larger towns, a Portuguese equestrian bullfight
will take place after the touradas á corda. In a Portuguese
bullfight a cavaleiro, or rider, takes to the arena atop a Lusitano
breed of horse. The cavaleiro dresses in a silk jacket embroidered
with gold and lace and wears tan riding pants and black boots. The
goal of the cavaleiro and his horse is not to kill the bull, but to
draw the bull to a charge and then to place a single dart in the
bull’s back muscle.
Geography and geology
Terceira Island consists of four overlapping
stratovolcanoes built above a geologic
rift called the
Terceira Rift. The volcanos rise from a depth
of over on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. The oldest at over
300,000 years is the Cinquo Picos stratovolcano that forms the
eastern part of the island, with a 7 km (4 mi) diameter
caldera which is one of the largest in the
Azores. Next in age at perhaps 100,000 years is the Guilherme
Moniz stratovolcano in the south-central part of the island, which
also has a caldera with the highest remaining point on the rim
reaching . Just to its north is the Pico Alto stratovolcano,
probably less than 60,000 years old. It once had a caldera
too, but subsequent eruptions filled it with several smaller
lava domes and cones which top out at
.
The youngest and only historically active volcano is Santa Bárbara,
which comprises the western end of the island and is its highest
point at . This stratovolcano is truncated by two calderas, the
youngest of which formed about 15,000 years ago. Historical
eruptions occurred in 1761 along a fissure on the east side of the
volcano, and in 1867 and 1998–2000 from submarine vents off the
west coast. The western part of Terceira Island is more heavily
forested than the eastern part, due to the prevailing
westerly winds bringing increased
precipitation to that
side.
Most of the island is ringed by coastal cliffs about 20 m
(60 ft) high, except on the south coast near Angra do
Heroísmo. Here, an eruption of
basaltic lava
in shallow water formed the
tuff cone of
Monte Brasil, which protects and shelters the harbor of the
island's capital. The cone is about 1 km (0.6 mi) in
diameter and rises above the western side of the harbor.
Communities and economy
Terceira Island is divided
into the municipalities of Angra do Heroísmo
and Praia da Vitória
. Angra do Heroísmo, the historical capital
of the Azores, is the oldest city in the Azores, dating back to
1534.
Its
historical centre is classified by UNESCO
as a
World Heritage
Site.
The main economic activity in Terceira Island is raising livestock
and dairy-based products.The island has two sea ports, one at Angra
do Heroísmo and the other at Praia da Vitória, and an
air force base and airport near the town of
Lajes.
History
The former name of Terceira Island was Brazil, not to be confused
with the country of the same name nor the
phantom island of
Brazil. That name first appeared as
I. de Brazi in the Venetian map of
Andrea Bianco (
1436),
attached to one of the larger islands of the
Azores. When the islands became better known and were
colonized, the island of Brazil was
named island of Jesus Christ but because many of the colonizers
where jewish the island was renamed Terceira (meaning 'third' in
Portuguese, as in 'the third island').The Spanish captured Terceira
Island in
1582.
An annual event held daily from
1 May to
30 September is the
tourada à
corda (bullfight with ropes). It consists of letting a bull,
tied to a rope, loose in the streets with some controlling the rope
and some challenging the bull.
Touradas may be held up to
three times a day.
Francisco Ferreira
Drummond (21 January 1796 - 11 September 1858), Portuguese
historiographer, paleographer and musician, was born on Terceira
Island. In 1810, a number of journalists and others considered to
favour the French, including the industrialist
Jácome Ratton, were exiled to the island
for a period.
On 24
August 2001, Terceira Island made the news as Air Transat
Flight 236
managed to land on Lajes
Air Base after running out of fuel in mid-air.
On 16 March 2003,
President of the United
States George W. Bush,
UK Prime
Minister Tony Blair,
Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar and
Prime Minister of Portugal
José Manuel
Barroso met on Terceira to discuss the
Invasion of Iraq, which began four days
later, on
20 March.
Image:Cidade de Angra do Heroísmo, ilha
Terceira, Açores.jpg|Angra do HeroísmoImage:Terceira.png|Map of
TerceiraImage:Terceira.jpg|Satellite view of Terceira
Image:Costa da Vila
Nova junto à Praia das Escaleiras, Praia da Vitória, ilha terceira,
Açores.jpg|near Praia da Vitória
See also
References
- http://www.azores.com/azores/terceira.php?attribute=9
External links
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