Santa Cruz das Flores, Azores, Portugal

Santa Cruz das Flores (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsɐ̃tɐ ˈkɾuʃ dɐʃ ˈfloɾɨʃ]) is a municipality in Portugal, located across from the island of Corvo on the island of Flores, in the western part of the autonomous region of Azores. With an area of 70.9 km² its approximately 2,500 inhabitants occupy the northern half of the island. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on all sides except south, where it borders Lajes das Flores

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History

The earliest record of the northern municipality referred to the village of Santa Cruz das Flores, in 1548. Transcribing the works of Father Gaspar Frutuoso, Francisco Gomes documented the arrival of the crew of the nau Nossa Senhor da Misericórida. In the beginning of the 17th-Century Diogo das Chagas, then the "head of the island", established his administration in the Santa Cruz noting "[the village]...is very well located with the best port on the island...". Going on, he described "...the first road of the Village and from the Porto das Poças another road, which is the last in the village, and where the rest of the roads intersect...". This year marked the municipal administration of the northern half of the island; part of the administrative regalia, was the obligatory construction of a lighthouse.

By the end of 1693, Frair Agostinho de Montalverne, referred to 9000 inhabitants, living in 180 homes, primarily in the village of Santa Cruz. The original settlers were Portuguese, primarily from the area of the Alentejo and Minho.

Since January 7, 1841, the villa of Santa Cruz, was the judicial center for the dual-administration of Flores and Corvo (the Western archipelago); the justice system was handled from Santa Cruz, although a magistrate came from off-island. The population of the municipality of Santa Cruz grew more rapidly then its southern neighbor (Lajes) in those years, reaching its zenith about 1895. On the November 18th of that year, the municipality of Lajes was made redundant, and along with Corvo, it became an integrated municipality from 1895 to about 1898. In 1898, the counsel José Luciano de Castro undertook the restoration of the individual administrative divisions.

Geography

Physical Geography

As part of a volcanic island, the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores offers several scenic vistas, with extinct volcanic cones and lakes in an area generally rugged. It is a natural garden, whose principal activities includes floral-culture and the ubiquitous Azorean dairy industries. The only significantly level ground is occupied by its primary center, Santa Cruz das Flores (parish), located on the eastern coast and near the municipal border with Lajes das Flores. Apart from a commercial center, it is the home of the island's only airport and secondary school.

To the north, along the only roadway, is the hamlet of Fazenda de Santa Cruz, noted for its Forest Reserve (Reserva Florestal da Fazenda de Santa Cruz), artificial lake and the island's only electrical station (constructed in 1967). The park is home to a small spawning program for trout, provides sites for picnicking, location of deer pens and an abundance of endemic plant species.

At the end of the Regional Road is the community of Ponta Delgada a coastal community with a line of sight to Corvo, as well as many sheltered coves and bays. The Gruta dos Encharéus (an enormous coastal grotto 50 meters long by 25 wide), the Gruta do Galo, the islets of Maria Vaz, Cartário, Abrões, Muda, Pão de Açúcar and Furado, as well as the plains of Ponta Delgada, Moinho and Vermelha, among others, are natural symbols of the coast of this municipality.

(c) Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_das_Flores