Publication Date
2009
Categories
A toponym of plausible Flemish origin - given as homage to the 1st donatory captain of the island of Faial, Josse Van Huertere -, Horta is the name of the primeval burgh of the island which time and the benevolence of King Manuel I elevated to district at the end of the 15th century and to which, already during the victory of the Liberal party, King Pedro IV conceded status of town in 1833.
As the main conglomerate of houses on a small island of the archipelago of the Azores, Horta did not have to fight for the primacy of the district's distinction; consequently, over the centuries, it centred the council's privileges and several administrative requirements, namely the Warehouse, created in 1520. As in the other islands, an aristocracy of lesser resources settled there, helping to structure a stratified society; as time went by and due to a growing commerce, a considerably dynamic bourgeoisie was formed, giving place to a mercantile community, which was heightened by the presence of consuls from varied nations and supported by growing navigation.
Nestled in the quietness of the safest and amplest bay of the archipelago, the strategic importance of Horta's location soon turned it into an essential stopover for Atlantic routes, especially when sailing ships returned from India and Brazil, doing the "volta do largo" as far as Flores ("volta do largo" is a sailing technique that allows catching favourable return winds by using the ocean gyres) and then going straight into Horta's port for safety and abundant water supply and refreshments. Even when they had to stop at Angra, due to the Navy Superintendence there created in the 1520s, Horta still offered its services and was prodigal in appropriate help at a time when the limitations of the art of sailing and of technology required such services. Such benefits, resulting from the merits of the port, led King Pedro's strategists to chose Horta as the dockyard for the preparation of the Mindelo expedition, which would take the troops assembled in the Azores to the Mindelo beach - and this was the beginning of the fight that opposed the Liberal cause to the army of King Miguel. To understand Horta's development as a seaport village par excellence (together with its privileged location in the Atlantic) it is important to take into account an essential factor, particularly in an economy in need of means of payment - the excellent 'verdelho' wine produced in the lava fields of the island of Pico, across the channel. Although Faial had followed the agricultural framework of the other Azorean islands, turning to the main crops that, since the beginning of the peopling, had dominated the archipelago - cereals and woad until the middle of the 16th century -, the truth is that the success of Faial's economy, until the 1850s, is based on a product foreign to the island. Since it was subject to the vicissitudes of the primitive peopling and to the royal mercies granted by whoever reigned, as well as to the conditions imposed by geography itself, the 'verdelho' wine depended from owners living in Horta; thus, the port played a significant part in the trading of the wine that, unfairly, reached fame and profit under the label of 'wine from Faial'. The wine casks shipped at the port of Faial pleasured wealthy costumers (and endowed with wealth Horta's traders and ship-owners) ranging from the coasts of Brazil and of the Antilles, and from the ports of the old British colonies of the American East, to the ends of the Baltic, where Riga, Aercangel and Saint Petersburg were expanding.
This prevalence of port life did not fade away due to the mid-19th century crisis, when the vineyards and, later, the orange orchards, disappeared, for the strong activity of the American whaling fleet in the Atlantic (mainly after the tension with England was appeased in 1814) turned the port of Horta into a true operations base, welcoming, over the 19th century, hundreds of ships searching for refuelling and reparation, for new hands on deck or even for transhipment services of the 'whale oil' destined to the ports of the eastern coast of America. The 19th century in Faial is, mainly because of its port, the true 'golden age' of the island, having brought good fame and wealth to the merchants and ship's chandlers that based their businesses in this island of the Atlantic, a fact that can be proved by the long and lucrative presence of the Dabney family in Faial, a family that secured the consular services of the novel American Republic from 1806 to 1892.
Spreading north and south of the arch formed by the quay, Horta gained an urban dimension of elegant design, the streets stretching into the neighbouring hills as a graceful amphitheatre to which the towering presence of the mountain of Pico, across the channel, lends grandeur, unique in the archipelago. Standing tall amongst the houses are the many conventual churches, reminders of the presence of Franciscan, Carmelite and Jesuit evangelist priests; its elegant temple towers of majestic demeanour contrast with the modest urban patch. Witnessing an epoch threatened by privateering, as the incursions of Elizabethan Essex and Cumberland can testify, are the 16th century castles of S. Sebastião and Santa Cruz; the meaning and symbolism of these military buildings give Horta a stronger character, as do the remaining edifications of a fortified line of over twenty constructions built to protect the island. Other buildings of agreeable presence (to which the inclusion of art-nouveau elements confers grace) stand out from the modest houses; those were built as consequence of the devastation caused by the 1926 earthquake.
The end of the 19th century and the progresses achieved in communications due to the submarine cable, Horta - where the first cable was set up in 1893 - became in a few years a true centre for worldwide telecommunications, bringing to town English, American, German, French and Italian companies that settled there until the end of the 1950s and whose presence lasts in the architecture of the buildings hence constructed for technical and residential facilities, constituting true landmarks in the urban landscape of Horta. In the transition into the 20th century the port of Faial also played a very important role in the coal refuelling of the steam ships that crossed the Atlantic.
During the first half of the 20th century, besides its importance as a telecommunications centre, and again due to its privileged location, Horta had another important responsibility in the development of the history of aviation. In 1917 there is an important turning point when the NC4 alights on the Horta port, thus concluding the first air crossing of the Atlantic. Twenty-two years later, also stopping at Horta, the first regular flight between the USA and Europe was completed; it was operated by one of the famous clippers belonging to Pan American Airways, which stopped-over at Horta all through World War II, thus turning it into the Allies military base.
Parallel to this century-old vocation as a port town and having its bay protected by a vast dock (the construction works began in the 19th century), Horta kept up the pace in what concerns the evolution of navigation; yachting is a new and highly profitable addition and its marina is one of the most sought-after of the archipelago. A small fleet of big game fishing and whale watching boats complement this tourism sea-oriented vocation, shared by the neighbouring islands of Pico and S. Jorge, thus benefiting from unique tourism offers in the branch.
After the political alterations caused by the revolution of the 25th of April, 1974, and after the Azores became an Autonomous Region, the headquarters of the Regional Legislating Assembly - the most important representative of the autonomy - settled in Horta.
In spite of the brevity and large-scope of this article, it is clear that the history of the island of Faial cannot be differentiated from the history of its port, in which vicinity the town grew roots and developed. Everyday life in this small island and the lives of its people progressed according to the rhythm and rhyme of the fluctuations and vicissitudes of the port. As previously referred, and due to the importance of the port over the centuries, 'no island of the Azores shows such a persistent, vast and close relationship with the Atlantic as Faial does, namely as a witness and an intervenient in the essential technological evolutions which took place over the centuries and which really influenced civilization'.
Bibliography:
Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, Horta, Núcleo Cultural da Horta, 1956 a 2008, n.ºs 1 -18. COSTA, Ricardo Manuel Madruga da, "Faial 1808-1810. Um tempo memorável", in Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, 1993-95, v.11, pp. 135-283. IDEM, "Breves notas para a história do porto da Horta (Seguidas da transcrição da correspondência Dabney-Bensaúde)", in Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, 1996-97, v. 12, pp. 9-109. DUNCAN, T. Bentley, Atlantic islands. Madeira, the Azores and the Cape Verdes in Seventeenth - Century. Commerce and Navigation, Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press, 1972. LIMA, Marcelino, Anais do Município da Horta, Famalicão, Oficina Minerva, 1940. MACEDO, António Lourenço da Silveira, História das quatro ilhas que formam o distrito da Horta, 3 vols., ed. fac-similada da ed. de 1871, Angra do Heroísmo, Secretaria Regional da Educação e Cultura, 1981. MENESES, Avelino de Freitas de, "A relevância geoeconómica do Faial na conjuntura açoriana de setecentos", in Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, Horta, 1989-90, v. 9, pp. 3-21. ROGERS, Francis M., A Horta dos Cabos Submarinos, Horta, ed. da Delegação de Turismo da Horta, s.d. TELO, António José, Os Açores e controlo do Atlântico (1898-1948), Lisboa, ed. ASA, 1993. VIANA, Mário (Coord.), História da Ilha do Faial. Das origens a 1833, Horta, Câmara Municipal da Horta, 2008, Vol. 1.
Translated by: Maria das Mercês Pacheco
Nestled in the quietness of the safest and amplest bay of the archipelago, the strategic importance of Horta's location soon turned it into an essential stopover for Atlantic routes, especially when sailing ships returned from India and Brazil, doing the "volta do largo" as far as Flores ("volta do largo" is a sailing technique that allows catching favourable return winds by using the ocean gyres) and then going straight into Horta's port for safety and abundant water supply and refreshments. Even when they had to stop at Angra, due to the Navy Superintendence there created in the 1520s, Horta still offered its services and was prodigal in appropriate help at a time when the limitations of the art of sailing and of technology required such services. Such benefits, resulting from the merits of the port, led King Pedro's strategists to chose Horta as the dockyard for the preparation of the Mindelo expedition, which would take the troops assembled in the Azores to the Mindelo beach - and this was the beginning of the fight that opposed the Liberal cause to the army of King Miguel. To understand Horta's development as a seaport village par excellence (together with its privileged location in the Atlantic) it is important to take into account an essential factor, particularly in an economy in need of means of payment - the excellent 'verdelho' wine produced in the lava fields of the island of Pico, across the channel. Although Faial had followed the agricultural framework of the other Azorean islands, turning to the main crops that, since the beginning of the peopling, had dominated the archipelago - cereals and woad until the middle of the 16th century -, the truth is that the success of Faial's economy, until the 1850s, is based on a product foreign to the island. Since it was subject to the vicissitudes of the primitive peopling and to the royal mercies granted by whoever reigned, as well as to the conditions imposed by geography itself, the 'verdelho' wine depended from owners living in Horta; thus, the port played a significant part in the trading of the wine that, unfairly, reached fame and profit under the label of 'wine from Faial'. The wine casks shipped at the port of Faial pleasured wealthy costumers (and endowed with wealth Horta's traders and ship-owners) ranging from the coasts of Brazil and of the Antilles, and from the ports of the old British colonies of the American East, to the ends of the Baltic, where Riga, Aercangel and Saint Petersburg were expanding.
This prevalence of port life did not fade away due to the mid-19th century crisis, when the vineyards and, later, the orange orchards, disappeared, for the strong activity of the American whaling fleet in the Atlantic (mainly after the tension with England was appeased in 1814) turned the port of Horta into a true operations base, welcoming, over the 19th century, hundreds of ships searching for refuelling and reparation, for new hands on deck or even for transhipment services of the 'whale oil' destined to the ports of the eastern coast of America. The 19th century in Faial is, mainly because of its port, the true 'golden age' of the island, having brought good fame and wealth to the merchants and ship's chandlers that based their businesses in this island of the Atlantic, a fact that can be proved by the long and lucrative presence of the Dabney family in Faial, a family that secured the consular services of the novel American Republic from 1806 to 1892.
Spreading north and south of the arch formed by the quay, Horta gained an urban dimension of elegant design, the streets stretching into the neighbouring hills as a graceful amphitheatre to which the towering presence of the mountain of Pico, across the channel, lends grandeur, unique in the archipelago. Standing tall amongst the houses are the many conventual churches, reminders of the presence of Franciscan, Carmelite and Jesuit evangelist priests; its elegant temple towers of majestic demeanour contrast with the modest urban patch. Witnessing an epoch threatened by privateering, as the incursions of Elizabethan Essex and Cumberland can testify, are the 16th century castles of S. Sebastião and Santa Cruz; the meaning and symbolism of these military buildings give Horta a stronger character, as do the remaining edifications of a fortified line of over twenty constructions built to protect the island. Other buildings of agreeable presence (to which the inclusion of art-nouveau elements confers grace) stand out from the modest houses; those were built as consequence of the devastation caused by the 1926 earthquake.
The end of the 19th century and the progresses achieved in communications due to the submarine cable, Horta - where the first cable was set up in 1893 - became in a few years a true centre for worldwide telecommunications, bringing to town English, American, German, French and Italian companies that settled there until the end of the 1950s and whose presence lasts in the architecture of the buildings hence constructed for technical and residential facilities, constituting true landmarks in the urban landscape of Horta. In the transition into the 20th century the port of Faial also played a very important role in the coal refuelling of the steam ships that crossed the Atlantic.
During the first half of the 20th century, besides its importance as a telecommunications centre, and again due to its privileged location, Horta had another important responsibility in the development of the history of aviation. In 1917 there is an important turning point when the NC4 alights on the Horta port, thus concluding the first air crossing of the Atlantic. Twenty-two years later, also stopping at Horta, the first regular flight between the USA and Europe was completed; it was operated by one of the famous clippers belonging to Pan American Airways, which stopped-over at Horta all through World War II, thus turning it into the Allies military base.
Parallel to this century-old vocation as a port town and having its bay protected by a vast dock (the construction works began in the 19th century), Horta kept up the pace in what concerns the evolution of navigation; yachting is a new and highly profitable addition and its marina is one of the most sought-after of the archipelago. A small fleet of big game fishing and whale watching boats complement this tourism sea-oriented vocation, shared by the neighbouring islands of Pico and S. Jorge, thus benefiting from unique tourism offers in the branch.
After the political alterations caused by the revolution of the 25th of April, 1974, and after the Azores became an Autonomous Region, the headquarters of the Regional Legislating Assembly - the most important representative of the autonomy - settled in Horta.
In spite of the brevity and large-scope of this article, it is clear that the history of the island of Faial cannot be differentiated from the history of its port, in which vicinity the town grew roots and developed. Everyday life in this small island and the lives of its people progressed according to the rhythm and rhyme of the fluctuations and vicissitudes of the port. As previously referred, and due to the importance of the port over the centuries, 'no island of the Azores shows such a persistent, vast and close relationship with the Atlantic as Faial does, namely as a witness and an intervenient in the essential technological evolutions which took place over the centuries and which really influenced civilization'.
Bibliography:
Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, Horta, Núcleo Cultural da Horta, 1956 a 2008, n.ºs 1 -18. COSTA, Ricardo Manuel Madruga da, "Faial 1808-1810. Um tempo memorável", in Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, 1993-95, v.11, pp. 135-283. IDEM, "Breves notas para a história do porto da Horta (Seguidas da transcrição da correspondência Dabney-Bensaúde)", in Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, 1996-97, v. 12, pp. 9-109. DUNCAN, T. Bentley, Atlantic islands. Madeira, the Azores and the Cape Verdes in Seventeenth - Century. Commerce and Navigation, Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press, 1972. LIMA, Marcelino, Anais do Município da Horta, Famalicão, Oficina Minerva, 1940. MACEDO, António Lourenço da Silveira, História das quatro ilhas que formam o distrito da Horta, 3 vols., ed. fac-similada da ed. de 1871, Angra do Heroísmo, Secretaria Regional da Educação e Cultura, 1981. MENESES, Avelino de Freitas de, "A relevância geoeconómica do Faial na conjuntura açoriana de setecentos", in Boletim do Núcleo Cultural da Horta, Horta, 1989-90, v. 9, pp. 3-21. ROGERS, Francis M., A Horta dos Cabos Submarinos, Horta, ed. da Delegação de Turismo da Horta, s.d. TELO, António José, Os Açores e controlo do Atlântico (1898-1948), Lisboa, ed. ASA, 1993. VIANA, Mário (Coord.), História da Ilha do Faial. Das origens a 1833, Horta, Câmara Municipal da Horta, 2008, Vol. 1.
Translated by: Maria das Mercês Pacheco