Fajãzinha, Azores, Portugal

Fajãzinha is a civil parish in the municipality of Lajes das Flores located 15 km from the town of Lajes das Flores, on the western coast of Flores. It is one of the least populated on the island; inn 2001 its population was 105 inhabitants, the area is 6.21 km² and corresponding density is 16.9/km².

History

The western coast was explored during the middle of the 16th Century, with the first stable settlements appearing in the beginning of the following century. These first colonists were captained by João Soares, native of São Miguel Island, who settled in the area ofLajedo.

Fajãzinha was in July 1676, by provision of the bishop of Angra, frair D. Lourenço de Castro, de-annexed from Lajes das Flores (a community that was several kilometers and many dirt roads away from its populous); the parish of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios das Fajãs was established, with a jurisdiction that included the western coast from Ponta da Fajã until Mosteiro. As such, it is the fourth oldest religious parish on the island.

One of the first stories from Fajãzinha was in 1789, by a judge, José Gonçalves da Silva, who referred to the construction of a stone bridge over the Ribeira Grande (a formidable construction for the era). It became historically referred to as a ponte da má memória (the bridge of bad memories); as Father António Camões would relate:

[There was a flood in 1794] that did not just destroy the bridge, but not as much as a small vestige, no remains, it disappeared from the rivers course, disappearing into the sea, leaving a large sandy debris field to a distance of 300 braças [660 meters], with unmeasurable loss for the farmers who had lands along the river's banks, and whom to the sea lost all.

Administratively, Fajãzinha has always been a administrative division of Lajes das Flores. Between 1895 and 1898, it was de-annexed from Lajes and incorporated into the neighboring municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores. Since 1616 it was the religious center of the parish of the Fajãs, a Catholic organ whose principal patron was Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, that included Ponta, Fajã Grande, Caldeira and Mosteiro. But by 1850, Mosteiro and Caldeira become their own parishes, and in 1861, Fajã Grande and Ponta Delgada das Flores, received the same privilege.

(c)Wikipedia

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