In this category you will find posts about Madeira’s cultural heritage. This includes subjects about Madeira’s music, music instruments, folk dance, art scene and history, and several contributions about Madeira’s never ending festival calendar. We also have the official calendar for you.
Retoiça – cultural activities on Madeira Retoiça is a non for profit association which organized cultural, sports and recreational activities on Madeira. Many of these projects are linked to music. Hence, in this blog post, we will focus soleley on Music related acticities. You can see the impressive list on their website. Retoiça excels in …
Madeira’s Terraced Landscape or Poios Suspended gardens, terraces and stone walls are man-made constructions. These ensure farmers have land to cultivate even on steep hills and in spite of environmental limitations. Moreover, these terraced landscapes provide inhabitants throughout all mountainous regions in the world with farmland. Here on Madeira, terraced plots are part of …
Madeira Nature Festival The Madeira Nature Festival celebrates Madeira’s unique natural heritage by promoting outdoor activities. Its goal is to bring humans closer to nature. Therefore, this festival is ideal for the adventure-thirsty and sports lovers, who are eager to spend more time outdoors to discover all that the island has to offer. The yearly …
Quinta Vigia The Quinta Vigia, previously called Quinta das Angústias, is an old mansion in Funchal located next to the Parque de Santa Catarina. Residence of the President Before becoming the official residence of the President of the Regional Government Funchal in 1984, the Quinta was home to several historical figures, such as Russian Prince …
Portugal has a long history of using tiles. Azulejos or tiles are part of Portugal culture. Azulejos on Madeira: These blue tiles adorn buildings and walls across Portugal and Madeira. Moorish – Spanish Influence The use of tile in Portugal is an inheritance of Islamic culture borrowed from Spain after the Moors left back home …
Madeira Folklore: dancing is a central element of Madeira culture as well as music and singing. There are several dance style on Madeira, imported successively by the different ethnic groups calling Madeira their home. Madeira was an important port on much used nautical trade routes. Many stopped in Funchal and some stayed on… Origins of …
Ancient means of transportation around the Island of Madeira Every terrain has its specific means of transportation. Madeira’s abrupt and rough geography long dictated the various way in which to travel or move around the island. The early settlers, some 600 years ago, mostly traveled by foot and carried their loads themselves. Slowly, animals helped …
This year again and for the 17th time, the parish of Curral das Freiras organizes its ‘Mostra do Brigalhó’. Canary Lord-and-Ladies But you may ask: “what is a brigalho?” It is a plant called Canary Lord-and-Ladies (Botanical name: Arum italicum ssp. Canariensis) The brigalho is the rarest of all Arum italicum subspecies. It makes green …
O Brinquinho – a traditional music instrument on Madeira A brinquinho (or little toy if one translates literally) is a very popular instrument on Madeira. Tourists and locals alike fondly think of this instrument. It leaves no one untouched. The curious instrument consists of small dolls dressed in traditional dress. The figures carry a small …
A German Painter in Madeira: Max Römer Max Wilhelm Römer saw the light on November 22nd, 1878 in Hamburg, Germany. His wife became ill and upon the recommendation of a Danish friend, he decided to move to Madeira due to its mild climate. He packed belongings, wife and children onto the Brazilian steamboat “Curvello” with …
The “Sorcerer of Calheta” and the Bailinho da Madeira If you have once been to Madeira or even to Portugal and partook in popular festivities, you must have heard the “Bailinho da Madeira” music and maybe even the song. Click play here below to listen to the Bailinho da Madeira while reading this post. O …
