Horta

Horta
Concelho da Horta
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Named for: Josse van Huerter, Portuguese transliteration of "Huerter"
Motto: Mui Leal Cidade da Horta
Country	Portugal
State	Azores
Group	Central
Island	Faial
Civil Parishes	Matriz, Angústias, Conceição, Flamengos, Praia de Almoxarife, Pedro Miguel, Riberinha, Salão, Cedros, Praia do Norte, Capelo, Horta, Feteira
Center	Faial
- coordinates	38°35′28″N 28°41′47″W / 38.59111°N 28.69639°W / 38.59111; -28.69639
Highest point	Cabeço Gordo
- elevation	1,043 m (3,422 ft)
- coordinates	38°34′19″N 28°43′6″W / 38.57194°N 28.71833°W / 38.57194; -28.71833
Lowest point	Sea Level
- location	Atlantic Ocean
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Area	173.1 km2 (67 sq mi)
Population	15,224 (2001)
Density	88 /km2 (228 /sq mi)
Settled	1467
- Municipal Status	1833
Municipality	Bicameral Executive & Assembly
President of Municipal Chamber	João Fernando Brum de Azevedo e Castro
- President of Municipal Council	Jorge Manuel Medeiros Correia Gonçalves
Timezone	Azores (UTC-1)
- summer (DST)	Azores (UTC-2)
Código Postal & Codex	9900-977 Horta
Country Code & Fix Line (Horta)	+351 292
Patron Saint	Santissimo Salvador da Horta
Municipal Holiday	June 24 (São João)
Municipal Offices	Largo Duque de Ávila e Bolama, Apartado 48
Location in Azores Archipelago
Website: http://www.cmhorta.pt

Horta (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɔɾtɐ]) is a single municipality and city in the western part of the Archipealgo of the Azores, encompassing the island of Faial. Horta has a population of 15,224, its density is 88/km² and it has an area of 173.1 km². The city itself has a population of about 7,000 inhabitants.^[1]

The city contains the Horta Regional Museum which has a permanent exhibit, Exhibition of Capelinhos Volcano, that details in photographs the most recent volcanic eruption in the Azores in 1957. It also contains a large collection of scale models of buildings, ships, and people carved from fig kernels carved by Euclides Rosa.^[2]

The marina is a primary stop for yachters in the Atlantic ocean, and its slips, walls, and walkways are covered in paintings created by visitors who noted the names of their vessels, crews, and the years they visited. Peter Cafe Sport across from the marina houses the island's scrimshaw museum; a collection of hundreds of pieces of scrimshaw work carved on whale tooth and jawbone.

City of Horta

Looking from Espalamaca or Monte da Guia, the city of Horta is typical of the insular Portuguese coastal communities and the urban tradition of the medieval-renaissance. The town is seaward looking, much like Angra, Terceira or Velas, São Jorge and populated by several incomplete volcanic cones located to its southern and eastern margins (the most predominant being Monte da Guaia, Monte do Carneiro and Monte Escuro). It is a population center that is focused on its principle road (sometimes referred to as Avenida Marginal or Avenida D. Infante Henriques), and cut by several smaller roadways. But, its proto-urban form lies in the north near Espalamaca, with a grouping of north-south and east-west roads that developed from the initial colonization. The Horta of today grew from roads such as:

• Rua Vista Alegre/Ladeira da Paiva/travessa Almeida Garrett (that includes the Church Matriz, and Convent of Saint John);
• Rua Advogado Graça/Travessa do Poiso Novo (where the original Casa da Câmara and Convent of Glory were situated);
• Rua de São Paulo;
• Rua de São Pedro and Travessa da Misericórdia; and,
• Rua Dr. Azevedo and Calçada M. Vila, near the entrance to the Largo do Colégio.
• Rua de São João
• Rua Ten. Aragão (currently between the Império dos Nobres and the Sociedade Amor da Pátria)
• Rua da Conceição/Alameda Barão de Roches/Rua D. Pedro IV/Rua E. Rebelo, with the Pelourinho, the Casa da Câmara and older urban prison (Cadeia), the Convent of Glory, this area constituted the original Vila of Horta. The oldest dwellings and the older ornate façades are located in this area.
• Rua Maestro Simaria, located near the Rua Serpa Pinto, and the ancient Largo do Colégio Jesuíta;
• Rua Conselheiro Miguel da Silveira, and open to the Avenida Marginal.

These roads formed from the central colony, along hills parallel to each other, and perpendicular from the sea. Littoral growth was made cautiously until the square, civic center, city hall, and local wells had developed along the beachhead, growing out in both directions. The religious institutions generally mark the extent of the urbanized/rural limits (just like today the Convent of Monte Carmo and Convent of the Capuchos do today to the northeast).

Modern Horta grows beyond the limits of this early colonization. A secondary nucleus grew in the area of Port Pim, and infilling occurred sporadically until a crescent form along the banks of the eastern coast developed, only contained by Ponte de Espalamaca (to the north) and the open sea to the south. The cinder cones in the south likely protected settlers and ships from the north Atlantic weather systems, sheltering colonists during this formative period. The city slowly grows into the river-valleys to the interior, linking the parishes of Flamengos (to the west) and Feteiras (the southwest) forming an incomplete urbanized mass. These nodes of growth basically follow the road networks, including the recently completed "Scut" (freeway)that bypasses the southern EN1-1a between Angustias and Feteiras.

History

In 1467, the Flemish nobleman Josse van Huerter returned to Faial on a second expedition, this time disembarking along the shore of what would be know as Horta bay. He had a small chapel built, that would later form the nucleus of a small community known as Horta (a name derived from the transliteration of his name). The infante D. Fernando, Duke of Viseu, granted Huerter the first captaincy of the island on February 2, 1468. The settlement of the island was not chiefly by flemish peasantry or business interests. In fact, generally, settlers to the island were from hard working peasantry from continental Portugal, willing to work hard in new lands and cut from a cross-section of the Portuguese community of the North. But, Huerter cultivated new business opportunities, attracting a second wave of settlers under the stewardship of Willelm van der Hagen (later transliterated to Guilherme da Silveira), who brought administrators, tradesmen, settlers and other compatriots to settle on the island.

Huerter's son, Joss de Utra (who would become the second Captain-General), and daughter, D. Joana de Macedo (who married Martin Behaim at the Santa Cruz chapel) continued on Faial, long after van Huerter’s death. By 1498 Horta was elevated to the status of villa by decree of king D. Manuel I, and its center had grown north of the small chapel of Santa Cruz. The island prospered with exports of wheat and woad. On June 28, 1514 the parish of Matriz do São Salvador da Horta was constituted and services were begun. In 1567, the cornerstone of what would be the Fort of Santa Cruz was laid. The constant growth of the settlers in the villa compelled the creation of the parishes of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (July 30, 1568) and Nossa Senhora da Angustias (November 28, 1684) by the diocese of Angra. A nucleus had developed initially around Santa Cruz and Porto Pim, and near the older Matriz (where the Tower Clock now stands), as well as the public square (where Alameda Barão de Roches now exists). Public buildings were erected between Rua Visconde Leite Perry and Rua Arriage Nunes, and eventually the city hall and courts offices moved to the Jesuit College, when the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal after 1758.

In 1583, Spanish soldiers landed at Pasteleiro, under the command of D. Pedro de Toledo. After some skirmishes at the doors of the Fort, then Captain of Faial António Guedes de Sousa was executed. Four years later, the Duke of Cumberland, commanding a fleet of 13 ships captured a Spanish ship, then plunders the cities churches and convents, profaning them and destroying reliquary and crucifixes. They captured several artillery pieces and set aflame the houses within the Fort of Santa Cruz. Two cannons, located in Porto Pim, were missed. In later years, a new invasion force, under Walter Raleigh (under the second Count of Essex) would sack and set aflame the religious buildings and churches in Horta, as well as the neighbouring parishes of Flamengos, Feteira and Praia do Almoxarife. This constant threat of privateers and pirates in the oceans of the Azores forced the construction of several forts and lookouts.

By 1643 Horta had 2579 inhabitants in 610 homes.

D. Frei Lourenço, the Bishop of Angra, authorised the renovation of the chapel of Santa Cruz on August 30, 1675. In 1688, the final renovations and ornamentation of the church were realized.

During the 18th-19th century, Horta was a small center that extended along the shoreline. It was peppered by various convents and churches, but little commerce and almost no industry. But, luckily due to its location, it prospered as a stopover on important commercial routes between Europe and the New World. For a time it was a center of commerce and travel (1804-1896). It was a gateway for the Azorean orange frutoculture and point of export of wine from Pico, as well as an important stop for North American whalers (and later as a refueling point for coal-powered ships during their transatlantic passages).

On the 4th of July 1833, the villa was elevated to the status of city for the support that the peoples of the island gave to the Liberalist forces during the Portuguese Liberal Revolution. The city hall coat of arms, by decree, was granted the exclusivity to promote “My Loyal City of Horta” by King D. Luis I on May 3, 1865.

In 1804 John Bass Dabney (1766-1826), the US Consul General in the Azores, married Roxanne Lewis, and moved to a home in Horta. His son, Charles William Dabney (who would later marry Francis Alsop Pomeroy) who succeeded his father in this position, was to play an important part in the history and economy of Horta and Faial. This was helped by the construction of a commercial port (1876) and the installation of transatlantic submarine cables (1893). The Dabney family would steer the island economy for 83 years, reflected in the dynamic growth of the port, the export of oranges, the Verdelho wine from Pico and the importance of the whaling industry. On September 26, 1814 the American brig "General Armstrong", under the command of Capitain Samuel Chester Reid, is sunk by three ships of the English navy, under the command of Robert Lloyd. After its scuttling, Captain Reid made a formal protest over the ships destruction in a neutral port, and the incapacity of the Portuguese. Its principal piece of artillery, the cannon “Long Tom” was later recovered from Horta Bay. King D. Carlos I would eventually offer "Long Tom" to General Batcheller (US Minister in Lisbon) in compensation. Ironically, General Batcheller would return to Horta to pickup the piece, and deliver it to New York onboard USS Vega (April 18, 1893).

With construction of the commercial port in 1876, Horta’s geostrategic importance increased. It served as an Allie Navy support facility during the world wars, but by August 23, 1893 the first telegraph cables linking Horta (Alagoa) and Lisbon (Carcavelos) had already made Horta a link on transatlantic communication. The location and presence of several cable companies on Horta had the cumulative affect of increasing the activity, the level of economic development and urban growth, as well as the cultural and sporting activities on the island. Between 1893 and 1969, the city was an important post in intercontinental communications. Horta also entered aviation history. The first transatlantic flight onboard the hydroplane NC4 (under the command of Captain Albert C. Read) made a layover in Horta Bay in 1919. Then, Colonel Charles Lindbergh accompanied by his wife, Anne Morrow, onboard a Pan American Airways flight (November 21, 1933) passed through after the historic flight of his Lockheed Sirius monoplane, the "Spirit of St. Louise". After 1939 Horta was a scheduled waypoint on the transatlantic hydroplane routes between America and Europe. In 1921, Dutch seagoing tugs used Horta as a stopover, and after the Second World War returned during the reconstruction of Europe. By 1960, yachters decide to use Horta’s sheltered port during their transatlantic voyages. An airport was eventually inaugurated in the parish of Castelo Branco, on the 24th of August 1971, by the then President of the Republic Almirante Américo Tomás. Since 1972, the Sociedade Açoreana de Transportes Aeréos (which was the forerunner of SATA Air Azores) would begin offering scheduled flights from Horta (HOR) airport (TAP Air Portugal, the national carrier, would later offer direct service to Lisbon from Horta). Following major renovations in December 2001, the airport was given an international designation, although no international carriers have scheduled flights to the island. A new marina was inaugurated on June 3, 1986, to fulfill the needs of transatlantic travellers and local enthusiasts that have propagated the mystic of the town internationally with seafarers.

References in literature and history

View of Horta from its municipal black sand beach.

Mark Twain visited the town of Horta in June 1867, near the beginning of a long pleasure excursion to Jerusalem. He describes his visit, with commentary on the people and culture of Horta, in his book The Innocents Abroad.

Vitorino Nemésio (O Corsário das Ilhas), Raul Brandão (As ilhas Desconhecidas) and Jules Verne (The Thompson Travel Agency: Package Holiday and End of the Journey) wrote of Horta in fiction and non-fiction.

Joshua Slocum landed in Horta after sailing his ship, The Spray, across the Atlantic in the first leg of his solo circumnavigation of the globe, as chronicled in his 1899 novel "Sailing Alone Around the World."

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Horta is twinned with:

• Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Fremont, California, United States^[3]

Parishes

Three parishes compose the urban area of the city of Horta (the urbanized area and historical center):

• Angústias
• Conceição
• Matriz

The remaining parishes comprising the rest of the municipality are located along the Regional EN1-1ª road network, and includes lands from the ocean to the central volcano (with the exception of Flamengos, which is the only landlocked parish):

• Capelo - located in the western portion of the island that includes the most recent historic volcanism on the island; location of the Capelinhos Volcano and Recreational Forest Park.
• Castelo Branco - located on the southern coastal area between Capelo and Feteiras; location of Horta International Airport.
• Cedros - largest civil parish and agricultural lands, located on the northern coast between Capelo and Salão
• Feteira - southern parish located between the urbanized core of Horta and Castelo Branco; primarily agricultural activities in transition into suburban community of Horta.
• Flamengos - the only landlocked civil parish on the island, established by original settlers from the low countries of Europe.
• Pedro Miguel - located to the north of Praia do Almoxarife, along the eastern coast
• Praia do Almoxarife - original settlers disembarked along the beach of Praia do Almoxarife during the original 1465 and 1467 expeditions; currently the main tourist beach community on the island.
• Praia do Norte - located between Cedros and Capelo, a zone affected by historic volcanism from the Capelo Volcanic Complex.
• Ribeirinha - a civil parish occuping the ancient geological zone that formed the island of Faial.
• Salão - settled by Spanish during the Iberian Union, and located between Cedros and Ribeirinha.

Notable natives

• Manuel de Arriaga (July 8, 1840 - March 5, 1917), the first president of Portugal.

See also

• Political status of the Autonomous Region of the Azores

References

v • d • e Parishes of Horta municipality Angústias | Capelo | Castelo Branco | Cedros | Conceição | Feteira | Flamengos | Matriz | Pedro Miguel | Praia do Almoxarife | Praia do Norte | Ribeirinha | Salão

v • d • e Municipalities of the Azores Autonomous Region Corvo: Corvo Faial: Horta Flores: Lajes das Flores · Santa Cruz das Flores Graciosa: Santa Cruz da Graciosa Pico: Lajes do Pico · Madalena · São Roque do Pico Santa Maria: Vila do Porto São Jorge: Calheta · Velas São Miguel: Lagoa · Nordeste · Ponta Delgada · Povoação · Ribeira Grande · Vila Franca do Campo Terceira: Angra do Heroísmo · Vila da Praia da Vitória